CURB START-UP FEVER

It appears that the winds of change in both governance and growth have not been strong enough to completely sweep away the dark cloud of scandal from this industry. Jerry Crook — no jokes, please — resigned as CEO of Cramer last week after he and several others were indicted in October by the Department of Justice on charges of conspiracy to defraud investors while at Peregrine Systems.

Crook has not been convicted. And there is no indication so far that the quick rise of Cramer has been anything but legitimate. But it sure is a sad reminder that as the industry speeds forward into the heady days of VoIP, FTTx and broadband wireless that all may not be what it seems.

Start-up fever has been detected recently among optimistic investors, and one would like to think that it is good medicine for the industry and is fighting the infection caused by telecom's most notorious criminals. However, the conflicting images of scandals and start-ups serve only to curb our enthusiasm and cloud our outlook for a still uncertain future.

Come to think of it, maybe that's not such a bad result. It is better not to forget the transgressions of greedy executives — which isn't likely when they keep popping up to bite us — and the next big technology wave could do with a little less enthusiasm or exuberance than the last one.