-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Clarification re Personal Liability Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 22:50:45 -0400 From: Diana Gale Matthiesen <dianagal@ufl.edu> To: C Hammett <carhammett@rootsweb.com>, listowners-L@rootsweb.com References: <4.1.19990530024617.028c6df0@pop.mindspring.com> C Hammett wrote: > <snip> > Although our public support of, and solicitation for, contributions to > RootsWeb have been based on its declared plan to become non-profit, in > reality, our efforts have been on behalf of a "for-profit corporation" (its > self-declared lack of profitability being irrelevant). > <snip> As Brian put it in an email back in July of 1998, he is a "California Mom and Pop" business. That means he is a "Sole Proprietorship," not a corporation. As a sole prorietor, he is not legally required to show his books to anyone or account to anyone, except the IRS. (He has no board of directors or stockholders to whom he is accountable.) It means that when I sent my check for $100 made out to the "RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative," I was giving the money to Brian *personally*. Whether or not his business is profitable or un-profitable, I have no idea -- and I believe Brian when he says that it is UN-profitable. But RootsWeb is certainly not a corporation nor is it "non-profit." Nor is it truly a "Cooperative," because a cooperative is a business in which the participants (those contributing the goods and services) share in the revenues. And while Brian may not have made a profit, we should realize that, as a sole proprietorship, our "donations" have increased his personal Net Worth, because all the computer hardware, and whatever else he has bought with the donations, legally belongs to him -- personally. Naming RootsWeb a "Cooperative" and calling for "Donations" caused me to misunderstand the nature of what I was contributing my money, my time, and my expertise *to*. If I'm going to capitalize the start-up of a business, I want shares in the company. Diana