Vermont Project

During the 2008 and 2009 legislative sessions, the State of Vermont passed ground-breaking law permitting the use of a wide range of digital means to carry out the internal legal aspects of Vermont corporations and LLCs. These "virtual corporations" and "virtual LLCs" will be private institutions with full legal status that can exist entirely in digital form.

Under the guidance of Oliver Goodenough, who worked with the Vermont Legislature to help draft the new laws, the Law Lab teamed up with Cambridge-based Pod Consulting over the summer of 2009 to develop software that will allow business start-ups to take full advantage of this opportunity under the LLC law.

Digital LLC application screenshot

The open-source software they have developed guides entrepreneurs in building the two main components that govern the management of an LLC — the Operating Agreement and the Articles of Organization. Once these key documents are agreed upon by the designated LLC members, the software allows users to make all management decisions digitally as well.

The big idea behind the Vermont Project is that these will be companies that are not just formed online, but also governed and managed digitally — allowing businesses to be established and run entirely through internet communication.