Viaspace, Inc. (VSPC)

[pickinNclickin]

the company doesnt actually pay anything in terms of a fee...its just called an impairment charge...the accounting firm which did the valuation valued it much less than was previously on the books...so the goodwill impairment charge was put on the books to reflect the new value of the asset(ipa). it doesnt really mean anything other than the company made a poor investment...or what was worth x amount 5 years ago...is worth x amount currently to the market...accounting rules say you have to re-evaluate your assets every so often im not sure what the exact rule is...but ipa could have been worth 15 million 5 years ago and only 5 million as of right now. i copied a little paragraph for you

"Then the goodwill must be tested (at least annually) to determine if the recorded value of the goodwill is greater than the fair value. If the fair value is less than the carrying value, the goodwill is deemed "impaired" and must be charged off."