In law, a company refers to a legal entity formed which has a separate legal identity from its members, and is ordinarily incorporated to undertake commercial business. Although some jurisdictions refer to unincorporated entities as companies, in most jurisdictions the term refers only to incorporated entities. It has been judicially remarked that "the word company has no strictly legal meaning",Re Stanley ^* 1 Ch 131 at 134 but is taken to mean a specific form of entity created under the laws of the relevant jurisdiction. Because of the limited liability of the members of the company for the company's debts and the separate personality and tax treatment of the company, it has become the most popular form of business vehicle in most countries in the world.

Lacking a concise definition of their own, companies are often defined by reference to what they are not. Companies are separate and distinct from:

• sole traders
• partnerships
• trusts, although conceptually trustees managing a trust fund for the benefit of beneficiaries is in many ways similar to the directors managing the company's assets for the benefit of the shareholders.
• guilds
• unincorporated associations of persons, or clubs

Modern companies are generally formed for one of three purposes:

• non-profit companies, formed for social, charitable or quasi-charitable purposes to provide the sponsors with the benefit of limited liability and to form an administratively convenient mechanisms for the administration of the organization.
• small business companies, usually formed by either sole traders or partners to take advantage of limited liability and (sometimes) as a means of tax avoidance, whilst still retaining overall control in the hands of the founders.
• public investment companies, formed to enable members of the public to invest in a business or enterprise without actually becoming involved in the running of it (which is left to the board of directors).

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NYT > Technology

Palm, Once a Leader, Seeks Path in Smartphone Jungle
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:30:58 -0000
Palm is trying to revive itself as business users have embraced the BlackBerry and consumers have fell in love with the iPhone.
Advertising: A Small Empire Built on Cuddly and Fuzzy Branches Out From the Web
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:33:29 -0000
Given all the nastiness on the Internet — blog trolls, flame wars, vicious gossip, pornography, snark and spam — what better antidote is there than looking at pictures of cute animals?
EBay Is Planning to Emphasize Fixed-Price Sales Format Over Its Auction Model
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:35:22 -0000
The move is just one of the changes eBay has made in the last few months aimed at reducing its dependence on its auction business, which is growing more slowly than fixed-price sales.
Hewlett’s Printing Business Struggles
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:24:07 -0000
Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest technology company, continues to roll along financially — except in one traditional core business — its printing business.
Bits: Lighting the Big Apple with L.E.D.'s
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:53:07 -0000
New York City has contracted with the Office for Visual Interaction, a lighting design group, to install and test L.E.D. street lighting.
Bits: I.B.M. Ups Its Bet on Business Recovery Services
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:53:07 -0000
I.B.M. is spending $300 million to build 13 data centers around the world, dedicated to helping corporate customers keep their businesses up and running despite calamity.

NerdTV | PBS

NerdTV #13: Judy Estrin
Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:00:00 -0700
Judy Estrin's career ranges from founder of Bridge Communications to CTO of Cisco to running Packet Design LLC. Quite the girl geek, eh?Download video:Entire Show:MPEG-4 | TorrentNerdy Bit:MPEG-4 | TorrentJuicy Bit:MPEG-4 | TorrentDownload subtitled video:Entire Show:With Subtitles | Torrent w/ SubtitlesNerdy Bit:With Subtitles | Torrent w/ SubtitlesJuicy Bit:With Subtitles | Torrent w/ SubtitlesDownload audio:Entire Show:MP3 | TorrentAAC | TorrentOgg Vorbis | Torrent
NerdTV #13: Judy Estrin - Transcript
Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:00:00 -0700
For those who would rather read than watch or listen.
NerdTV Archives
Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:00:00 -0700
Miss a past show? Check out our archives.Past guests include:#12: Bob KahnInventor of TCP/IP.#11: Doug EngelbartComputer mouse inventor.#10: Dan BricklinInventor of the Spreadsheet#9: AninaHigh Fashion Meets High Tech#8: Avram MillerCo-founder of Intel Capital#7: Dan DrakeCo-founder of Autodesk#6: Dave WinerFather of RSS and Web Logging#5: Tim O'ReillyOpen Source pioneer#4: Brewster KahleInternet Archive founder#3: Bill JoyCo-founder of Sun#2: Max LevchinCo-founder of PayPal#1: Andy HertzfeldThe first Macintosh programmer...ever

Reuters: Technology News

EBay lowering fixed-price sellers' listing fees
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:10:29 -0400
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc is cutting the fees U.S. sellers on its site pay for fixed-price items, in one of the company's boldest moves this year to boost merchandise for sale, lure new buyers and take on competitors.
Apple updates iPhone software to fix glitches
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:29:04 -0400
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc has issued a software update for the latest iPhone to help fix connection problems that led to a flurry of online complaints from customers, a European mobile service provider said on Tuesday as Credit Suisse reported strong U.S. sales of the device.
Microsoft to pay Novell $100 million more for Linux support
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:19:59 -0400
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp plans to pay software maker Novell Inc up to $100 million in additional subscription fees due to strong demand for Novell's open-source Linux software that partners with Microsoft's proprietary Windows software.

AP Top Technology News At 5:23 a.m. EDT

HP posts 3Q profit jump; faces stiff competition
By JORDAN ROBERTSON Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:38:19 -0000
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. weathered economic turbulence remarkably well in the fiscal third quarter but the technology bellwether faces another big challenge - stiffer personal-computer competition - that threatens to slow its steady growth....
Some eBay sellers frustrated with rule changes
By RACHEL METZ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:23:01 -0000
NEW YORK (AP) -- Some people who sell things on eBay are fed up with new rules the company has been imposing in hopes of making the auction site more attractive to online shoppers. Now even more changes are coming in the next few weeks, but this time eBay Inc. hopes it can cool tempers....
China limits use of Olympians' names online
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:34:01 -0000
BEIJING (AP) -- China has banned the use of its Olympic gold medalists' names as Internet addresses by anyone but the athletes themselves....

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