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Re: [LUG] OT: GNU GPL copyright

 

On Thu, Oct 26, 2006 at 12:24:04PM +0100, Aaron Trevena wrote:
> On 25/10/06, Eion MacDonald <eionmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Partners are unlimited .
> > Also note,where previously  'unlimited partnerships' existed ,these are
> > now replaced by 'limited partnerships' to
> > avoid problems of one partner bringing down the bank.
> 
> Yes - I think plain partnerships are fairly uncommon - if you're going
> down the partnership route, you need a decent contract to makesure
> neither partner get's screwed over so you may as well get the lawyer
> to do a LLP, which is pretty much a boilerplate contract these days
> anyway.
> 
> A.
> 
for info, my understanding is as follows

-   Sole proprietor: the sole proprietor is liable for any business debts

-   A partnership is where each partner is liable for the business
    debts. Traditionally this is the route for accountants and lawyers.
    They are now trying to set up Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP)
    to get around some of the problems

-   A Limited Company is a seperate legal entity in which the *owners*
    liability is limited. (Unlimited companies exist, as they are useful
    in certain circumstance.) As a result the company is liable for its
    debts and not the Shareholders. (The invention of the limited
    liability company was a significant step in the development of the
    modern economy) 

    Shareholders then choose various persons to be the directors of the
    company and the directors then choose persons to be the managers
    http://tinyurl.com/uafkl. Obviously in some companies, the
    shareholder, the director and the manager are the same person.

    UK registered companies are required to publish their annual
    accounts, which anyone can then inspect
    http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

    Please also see http://tinyurl.com/y6rjkn

-   Liability of directors / managers

    Depending on company law or criminal law, directors may become
    personally liable for their acts as director (as an example allowing
    the company to trade while insolvent), and similarly managers may
    also become liable. Health and Safety is an issue here.

-   Public Limited Company

    A public limited company (PLC) is normally a limited liability
    company whose shares may be offered to the public. Please note it
    need not be quoted on the stock market

    As a result there are additional regulatory issues that affect the
    company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_limited_company

-   Publically quoted company

    Again there are further restrictions: I believe the main aim of
    these are to protect individual shareholders. For example directors
    are obliged to produce an annual report, they are obliged to inform
    shareholders of significant events etc etc

Needless to say taking appropriate professional accounting and legal
advice is essential


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