3 ms·

There seems to be a logic gap here if I'm understanding the possibilities correctly. What stops me from founding a company through which I get paid, leveraging

There seems to be a logic gap here if I'm understanding the possibilities correctly. What stops me from founding a company through which I get paid, leveraging that company to purchase 100% of my "assets", then instituting a EULA and selling (at no cost) a lifetime license to use anything I want to myself? As per your logic (as I understand it), I could then declare myself utterly destitute and owning $0 worth of assets. My company could also claim $0 worth of assets. At that point, could I not play any number of games to increase eligibility for government assistance programs or reduce tax burden? (This is a quick thought, so if there's any glaring flaws in this idea please do point them out.)

joshuak 9y ago
> My company could also claim $0 worth of assets. Why? If the company buys assets and sells or transfer's them to you, the fact they are not assets to you doesn't really change the facts for the company do they? However, if your company buys stuff with a EULA that prohibits resale then those purchases are an immediate 100% loss. If the company must liquidate the following day those purchases will not contribute to recovering any investment value. Look at visual effects and post production companies in M&E, a large part of Autodesk's addressable market. These companies are constantly going out of business, and the unrecoverable costs of very expensive software contributes to this volatility.
- Omniusaspirer 9y ago
  If I'm licensing from my company, what legal mechanisms force that asset to still be owned by my company? Can I not license it to myself under some vague EULA terms in which the company gets it back upon my passing, but I'm forbidden from reselling (and thus it's not an asset for me either)? If the key to this is the "licensing" of a product forbidding resale, I'm not seeing how that isn't a financial black hole into which assets disappear.
abtinf 9y ago
The definition of "property" is an extraordinarily complex topic. Just a few of the absolute most basic questions: What does it mean to possess something? Is physical possession all that matters? Is it the right to use something? If you possess something, but someone prevents you from using it, have you lost property? And then if you start mixing in taxes... whoa boy. Take a look at http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1511&context=tlr http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art... The net of all of it that the law, both formal and common, has evolved to deal with this topic. But there are constant new frontiers, like this SCOTUS decision.
delinka 9y ago
> My company could also claim $0 worth of assets. You need a place to live. You have the company purchase it, "license" it to you under a EULA. The company now owns property worth some amount of money (it can sell this property and turn it into cash.) Thus, the company has at least a single asset. And you own the company. You have an asset. Oh, you want the company to rent a place to license to you? Fine, now no one has assets, but the leasing company might not actually be willing to sign the lease with a company who's going to effectively sublease.

joshuak 9y ago

> My company could also claim $0 worth of assets. Why? If the company buys assets and sells or transfer's them to you, the fact they are not assets to you doesn't really change the facts for the company do they? However, if your company buys stuff with a EULA that prohibits resale then those purchases are an immediate 100% loss. If the company must liquidate the following day those purchases will not contribute to recovering any investment value. Look at visual effects and post production companies in M&E, a large part of Autodesk's addressable market. These companies are constantly going out of business, and the unrecoverable costs of very expensive software contributes to this volatility.

Omniusaspirer 9y ago
If I'm licensing from my company, what legal mechanisms force that asset to still be owned by my company? Can I not license it to myself under some vague EULA terms in which the company gets it back upon my passing, but I'm forbidden from reselling (and thus it's not an asset for me either)? If the key to this is the "licensing" of a product forbidding resale, I'm not seeing how that isn't a financial black hole into which assets disappear.

abtinf 9y ago

The definition of "property" is an extraordinarily complex topic. Just a few of the absolute most basic questions: What does it mean to possess something? Is physical possession all that matters? Is it the right to use something? If you possess something, but someone prevents you from using it, have you lost property? And then if you start mixing in taxes... whoa boy. Take a look at http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1511&context=tlr http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art... The net of all of it that the law, both formal and common, has evolved to deal with this topic. But there are constant new frontiers, like this SCOTUS decision.

delinka 9y ago

> My company could also claim $0 worth of assets. You need a place to live. You have the company purchase it, "license" it to you under a EULA. The company now owns property worth some amount of money (it can sell this property and turn it into cash.) Thus, the company has at least a single asset. And you own the company. You have an asset. Oh, you want the company to rent a place to license to you? Fine, now no one has assets, but the leasing company might not actually be willing to sign the lease with a company who's going to effectively sublease.