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NDAs and non-disparagement clauses are consensual and can be agreed between individuals as well. They have nothing to do with corporations as such. Laws and reg

NDAs and non-disparagement clauses are consensual and can be agreed between individuals as well. They have nothing to do with corporations as such. Laws and regulations are ultimately enforced by means of violence against individuals. When the government is sending a national security letter, it's not threatening to lock up the paper the corporation's articles of incorporation are written on, it's threatening to lock up individual human beings who will remain in prison no matter what happens to the corporation afterwards.

ben_w 4y ago
All contracts are legal abstractions, as are corporations themselves. “Voluntary” is a bit of a slippery concept in a world where the unemployment rate is deliberately kept above zero to avoid the inflationary consequences of it being exactly zero (see also: every argument about if is sex work consensual or not). Every aspect of corporate nature exists only as an emergent phenomena of the legal environment, likewise the laws and regulations that you accept are ultimately enforced by means of violence. However, contrary to your claim, that violence can also be directed at assets under the control of a corporation and not just the natural persons. Indeed, in many cases, the whole fundamental point of a corporation is that individuals often should not be held responsible for the corporate actions. So, while fines and penalties for non-compliance can be directed against individuals, this is not the norm, and they are usually directed against the corporation itself; if this exceeds the corporate bank account, then in certain jurisdictions it can become a legal obligation to declare bankruptcy at that point as otherwise it becomes “trading while insolvent” which can result in individuals being banned from sitting on a board of directors for a certain period. The very brief introduction I had to corporate law at university called this “piercing the corporate veil”.

ben_w 4y ago

All contracts are legal abstractions, as are corporations themselves. “Voluntary” is a bit of a slippery concept in a world where the unemployment rate is deliberately kept above zero to avoid the inflationary consequences of it being exactly zero (see also: every argument about if is sex work consensual or not). Every aspect of corporate nature exists only as an emergent phenomena of the legal environment, likewise the laws and regulations that you accept are ultimately enforced by means of violence. However, contrary to your claim, that violence can also be directed at assets under the control of a corporation and not just the natural persons. Indeed, in many cases, the whole fundamental point of a corporation is that individuals often should not be held responsible for the corporate actions. So, while fines and penalties for non-compliance can be directed against individuals, this is not the norm, and they are usually directed against the corporation itself; if this exceeds the corporate bank account, then in certain jurisdictions it can become a legal obligation to declare bankruptcy at that point as otherwise it becomes “trading while insolvent” which can result in individuals being banned from sitting on a board of directors for a certain period. The very brief introduction I had to corporate law at university called this “piercing the corporate veil”.