Xerox too? Copycats.

And I have been informed via crypto-Masonic corespondence that I am obligated to clarify my anti-Economist outburst of recent days: said outburst was purely self-satirical in nature and was in no way intended to be a sexual invitation to the news magazine The Economist, employees thereof, or readers.

Besides, I heard the guy they have covering our meltdown (yes, I said meltdown; more to come, he says), and I found him to be the most informed and reasoned person on the subject on the show; all the Americans clearly had too much at stake politically to accurately address the issues.

For instance, did you know that the head of the SEC raised concerns about these issues following the collapse of “Chainsaw Al” Dunlop’s eviscerated Sunbeam in the spring of 1998? And that the accounting firm employed by Al there was … Andersen? And that the accounting industry marshalled forces and closed down efforts to legislate safeguards against these kinds of tricks? And that the very folks we are seeing, red in the face, on TV, calling for greater, um, accountability, the folks that sit on Joe Lieberman’s Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, are the peple that the accounting industry made sure to take very good care of come campaign time.

Recently I made note of Frontline’s monster season.

Well, a week ago, the topic was this: Bigger than Enron. The title is a prediction. Less than a week later, we’ve seen what is poised to be the fulfillment of that prediction.

One long-term point to keep in mind, if there were any way to get this on the board in congress: if AOL Time Warner, Disney, and/or Sony have engaged in similar accounting chicanery (a distinct possiblity, yes?), there may be some possibility of addressing the unfortunate extension of both the life of copyright via the Mickey Mouse bill and additionally, an opportunity to weaken the strictures of the DCMA.