People, corporations, what's the difference?

Here's a technology story that belongs on this blog. Coursey believes that prosecuting all people involved in corporate fraud, rather than just the top guys will help stamp it out. Big fines and taking out the top executives just doesn't work. While it may be a fine idea I think he has forgotten about corporate personhood and its death grip on modern society. Corporations just wont stand for it as it weakens their viability, people just wouldn't want to work for a corporation if they thought they could be liable for every single mistake they or the corporation makes in day to day business. The "I was just following orders" argument will be used. People will not and cannot be expected to know about the legality of everything they are told to do.

Even if you can single out all those individuals who were demonstrably responsible and culpable in some corporate fraud, the reality is that corporations have this funny way of making it worth people's while to do anyway. The benefit nearly always outwieghs the risk to both the corporation and the individuals. The risk of being caught, being fined, being thrown in jail are just the cost of doing business. Dodgy doings in businesses attract dodgy dealers with questionable ethics and those with squeaky clean ethics will just go elsewhere.

Predictably I belief the real solution is to abolish corporate personhood, and let government treat incorporation as a privilege, not a right. This will give the government sufficient power to investigate and punish corporations, with the ultimate threat of revoking their corporate charter. There are good many people behind the idea of a "three strikes" law for corporate fraud, the problem is almost every major US corporation would have to have its corporate charter revoked at the moment. But going forward, it might prompt some alternate thinking when the executives are next contemplating fraud. It would give shareholders the ultimate incentive to pay attention to who is running their company and vote for executives with squeaky clean ethics and a clean pasts to ensure their corporation doesn't sent to the firing squad for corporate fraud.