6 ms·

Vidoop Is Dead, Employees Getting Computers In Lieu Of Wages

24 points by peter123 17y ago

tlrobinson 17y ago
"The company’s liability to you would be reduced by $1000, and you would have a laptop for $38.25." That's one way to look at it. The other way would be you're not getting paid $1000 for work you already did, but instead getting a laptop worth $250. Guess it's better than nothing...
- newsio 17y ago
  This was actually common during the last bubble. I've read accounts of people who were grateful they at least got to keep the laptop -- it let them continue freelancing. On the other hand, laptops in the year 2000/2001 cost a lot more than they do now, and many people had desktop PCs at home.
- ojbyrne 17y ago
  I think that's the point. You're not getting paid, here's a way for you to benefit from that.
muhamm 17y ago
Doesn't the company have a contractual obligation to pay you your wages even if it has to go into debt to do so? I don't see how they could get away with that.
- patrickg-zill 17y ago
  Yes, that is my understanding. The officers of the company are personally liable for the cash if there is no other source of funding.
  - Dilpil 17y ago
    If it was an llc, they would not be responsible for the wages except in extenuating circumstances I believe.
    - tptacek 17y ago
      If it was an LLC, any form of Corporation (like the C Corp it almost certainly is), or an LLP, there is no liability. The "LL" in "LLC" sets LLC's apart from Companies that are not formally Corporations.
  - tptacek 17y ago
    The officers of the company are astronomically unlikely to personally bear any contractual liability at all, that being the one of the points of incorporating in the first place.
    - patrickg-zill 17y ago
      Actually, you are quite wrong about that... many states have exactly those provisions, e.g. Colorado http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/compensation-salary/173040-1.html http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/compensation-sala... 20 seconds of google would have shown you that ... (BTW if your claim of shielding from liability were absolute, then directors and officers wouldn't need D&O insurance now, would they? )
      - eds 17y ago
        No. Your article is from 2002 and, at the end, refers to a case then before the Colorado Supreme Court. Here's the outcome (2003): "After finding a lack of precedent from the Colorado Supreme Court construing individual officer liability under the Wage Claim Act, we certified the following determinative questions... 1. Are officers of a now-bankrupt corporation individually liable for the wages of the corporation's former employees under the Colorado Wage Claim Act? ... 2. If so, are all officers individually liable due to mere status as officers or must the officers have been high ranking or active decision-makers? ... The Colorado Supreme Court then answered the first reframed question, holding "under Colorado's Wage Claim Act, the officers and agents of a corporation are not jointly and severally liable for payment of employee wages and other compensation the corporation owes to its employees under the employment contract and the Colorado Wage Claim Act." Id. (emphasis added). This response clearly answers the first question certified by this court and moots our second question. We REVERSE the district court's summary judgment order..." http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/02/00-1324.htm http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/02/00-1324.htm
- harpastum 17y ago
  My understanding is that the choice is completely optional. While Vidoop is legally responsible for paying them, I can see how some employees would rather have valuable merchandise now than wait what could potentially be a very long time for their wages in cash.
- gojomo 17y ago
  Owed wages have very high precedence when all creditors line up for whatever's left... but if there's no cash and no one to loan/invest more money, employees may not be made whole.
- tptacek 17y ago
  You can only "go into debt" if people are willing to extend you credit.
- ckinnan 17y ago
  These guys can get paid from the state of Oregon which will in turn pursue the company. http://www.boli.state.or.us/BOLI/WHD/W_Whhowinf.shtml http://www.boli.state.or.us/BOLI/WHD/W_Whhowinf.shtml
  - gojomo 17y ago
    A program where where the state pays before collecting from the company would be pretty amazing, so I read your link and the related form. I found no evidence the state pays before collection; in fact they warn that "collection depends upon your employer’s financial ability to pay, business closure, bankruptcy filing or location of money and assets". It might still be a good program to help assert an employee's claim with the weight of the state agency, but there are other caveats which might make many Vidoop employees ineligible for even that sort of assistance, such as a total unpaid amount more than $10K or "having a direct financial interest" in the company, which many startup employees might have.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
dc2k08 17y ago
I'm wondering what will happen to all the open ID's that were created including mine and all the accounts they were used on. There's no info on their site.
- tlrobinson 17y ago
  That's a good reason to use OpenID delegation. As long as you remain in control of your domain name your OpenID can never become invalid, even if the provider you delegate to goes out of business. https://myvidoop.com/help/what-is-delegation https://myvidoop.com/help/what-is-delegation Of course that's only a good solution for relatively technical people like us. Perhaps someone should create a service that automates this process for the average internet user: pick a domain name and OpenID provider, pay your $10 (per year), and you're done.
  - axod 17y ago
    >> "Perhaps someone should create a service that automates this process for the average internet user:" Sorry, but the average internet user will never want or understand OpenID IMHO.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
woadwarrior01 17y ago
Whats with all the tracking codes in the URL's querystring ? 'awesm': 'tcrn.ch_2t3', 'utm_campaign': 'techcrunch', 'utm_content': 'techcrunch-autopost', 'utm_medium': 'tcrn.ch-twitter', 'utm_source': 'direct-tcrn.ch'
- andyn 17y ago
  Looks like some sort of google analytics tagging/tracking: http://www.epikone.com/blog/2006/11/10/google-analytics-campaign-tracking-pt-1-link-tagging/ http://www.epikone.com/blog/2006/11/10/google-analytics-camp...
s_baar 17y ago
Read it as "Voodoo is dead, employees getting computers in lieu of wages" Was all, "Sweeeeet!"

24 points by peter123 17y ago

"The company’s liability to you would be reduced by $1000, and you would have a laptop for $38.25." That's one way to look at it. The other way would be you're not getting paid $1000 for work you already did, but instead getting a laptop worth $250. Guess it's better than nothing...

newsio 17y ago
This was actually common during the last bubble. I've read accounts of people who were grateful they at least got to keep the laptop -- it let them continue freelancing. On the other hand, laptops in the year 2000/2001 cost a lot more than they do now, and many people had desktop PCs at home.
ojbyrne 17y ago
I think that's the point. You're not getting paid, here's a way for you to benefit from that.

muhamm 17y ago

Doesn't the company have a contractual obligation to pay you your wages even if it has to go into debt to do so? I don't see how they could get away with that.

patrickg-zill 17y ago
Yes, that is my understanding. The officers of the company are personally liable for the cash if there is no other source of funding.
- Dilpil 17y ago
  If it was an llc, they would not be responsible for the wages except in extenuating circumstances I believe.
  - tptacek 17y ago
    If it was an LLC, any form of Corporation (like the C Corp it almost certainly is), or an LLP, there is no liability. The "LL" in "LLC" sets LLC's apart from Companies that are not formally Corporations.
- tptacek 17y ago
  The officers of the company are astronomically unlikely to personally bear any contractual liability at all, that being the one of the points of incorporating in the first place.
  - patrickg-zill 17y ago
    Actually, you are quite wrong about that... many states have exactly those provisions, e.g. Colorado http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/compensation-salary/173040-1.html http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/compensation-sala... 20 seconds of google would have shown you that ... (BTW if your claim of shielding from liability were absolute, then directors and officers wouldn't need D&O insurance now, would they? )
    - eds 17y ago
      No. Your article is from 2002 and, at the end, refers to a case then before the Colorado Supreme Court. Here's the outcome (2003): "After finding a lack of precedent from the Colorado Supreme Court construing individual officer liability under the Wage Claim Act, we certified the following determinative questions... 1. Are officers of a now-bankrupt corporation individually liable for the wages of the corporation's former employees under the Colorado Wage Claim Act? ... 2. If so, are all officers individually liable due to mere status as officers or must the officers have been high ranking or active decision-makers? ... The Colorado Supreme Court then answered the first reframed question, holding "under Colorado's Wage Claim Act, the officers and agents of a corporation are not jointly and severally liable for payment of employee wages and other compensation the corporation owes to its employees under the employment contract and the Colorado Wage Claim Act." Id. (emphasis added). This response clearly answers the first question certified by this court and moots our second question. We REVERSE the district court's summary judgment order..." http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/02/00-1324.htm http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/02/00-1324.htm
harpastum 17y ago
My understanding is that the choice is completely optional. While Vidoop is legally responsible for paying them, I can see how some employees would rather have valuable merchandise now than wait what could potentially be a very long time for their wages in cash.
gojomo 17y ago
Owed wages have very high precedence when all creditors line up for whatever's left... but if there's no cash and no one to loan/invest more money, employees may not be made whole.
tptacek 17y ago
You can only "go into debt" if people are willing to extend you credit.
ckinnan 17y ago
These guys can get paid from the state of Oregon which will in turn pursue the company. http://www.boli.state.or.us/BOLI/WHD/W_Whhowinf.shtml http://www.boli.state.or.us/BOLI/WHD/W_Whhowinf.shtml
- gojomo 17y ago
  A program where where the state pays before collecting from the company would be pretty amazing, so I read your link and the related form. I found no evidence the state pays before collection; in fact they warn that "collection depends upon your employer’s financial ability to pay, business closure, bankruptcy filing or location of money and assets". It might still be a good program to help assert an employee's claim with the weight of the state agency, but there are other caveats which might make many Vidoop employees ineligible for even that sort of assistance, such as a total unpaid amount more than $10K or "having a direct financial interest" in the company, which many startup employees might have.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

dc2k08 17y ago

I'm wondering what will happen to all the open ID's that were created including mine and all the accounts they were used on. There's no info on their site.

tlrobinson 17y ago
That's a good reason to use OpenID delegation. As long as you remain in control of your domain name your OpenID can never become invalid, even if the provider you delegate to goes out of business. https://myvidoop.com/help/what-is-delegation https://myvidoop.com/help/what-is-delegation Of course that's only a good solution for relatively technical people like us. Perhaps someone should create a service that automates this process for the average internet user: pick a domain name and OpenID provider, pay your $10 (per year), and you're done.
- axod 17y ago
  >> "Perhaps someone should create a service that automates this process for the average internet user:" Sorry, but the average internet user will never want or understand OpenID IMHO.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

woadwarrior01 17y ago

Whats with all the tracking codes in the URL's querystring ? 'awesm': 'tcrn.ch_2t3', 'utm_campaign': 'techcrunch', 'utm_content': 'techcrunch-autopost', 'utm_medium': 'tcrn.ch-twitter', 'utm_source': 'direct-tcrn.ch'

andyn 17y ago
Looks like some sort of google analytics tagging/tracking: http://www.epikone.com/blog/2006/11/10/google-analytics-campaign-tracking-pt-1-link-tagging/ http://www.epikone.com/blog/2006/11/10/google-analytics-camp...

s_baar 17y ago

Read it as "Voodoo is dead, employees getting computers in lieu of wages" Was all, "Sweeeeet!"