The online craft website Etsy is facing new scrutiny for its recent decision to shift some of its intellectual property into a secretive Irish subsidiary. As Bloomberg reported last week, the company's Irish subsidiary has been made into an "unlimited liability corporation," a form that exists primarily to avoid disclosure of even the most basic financial information. This behavior might elicit yawns from a public weary of tax-avoidance tales from Apple to Xerox, except for one important detail: Etsy is one of the first publicly held corporations to structure itself as a "B corporation," or benefit corporation — and as such, is required to act in a socially responsible manner.
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