If a mime fell in the woods...

18 August 2010

"If a mime fell in the woods, would anybody care?"

Its a joke. But it sure crystallizes the question. So I'll simply ask it. Would the (untimely) demise of the company called XBRL US Inc actually in any way negatively impact the adoption of XBRL in the US or around the world? 

XBRL as a standard is well established. Uptake around the world, and in wider circles in the United States continues to gather pace, regardless of jurisdictions. Certainly they are important. Yet the business case for XBRL seems to have taken root, with the benefits of adoption becoming clearer every day. At the same time, there are rumors that XBRL US Inc, the US jurisdiction of XBRL International, is in trouble. I've already commented on the apparent drop in membership. Is it possible that XBRL US Inc as a company might fail?

What might happen if XBRL US Inc ran out of money? Of course, if XBRL US Inc were to run out of money, would there still be a jurisdiction in the US? Would there still be a need for one, if XBRL International moves to a direct membership model? (these questions are of course completely hypothetical)

What would happen to the assets - the website, the consistency suite, the taxonomy viewer, the taxonomy development environment?  Who or what would take over or create a new Jurisdiction in US? What would happen to the people? When would it happen? Can assets developed using membership fees be sold in the market to be used to compete against those who paid (through membership fees) for the development of such tools? Are / were XBRL US Inc internal financial records adequate to demonstrate whose money was spent on which products? If not, wouldn't the assets belong to all the members?

Of course, we could have some fun (before you beat me up, this is just for fun) with scenarios:

1. Could / would the existing members of the Founders Council each provide cash? Were it ever to happen, I would guess that for some on the Board of Directors might find a defunct XBRL US Inc a bit embarrassing. Of course, how many of the existing Founders Council members are actually going to renew as Founders Council and not as regular members?

2. XBRL US Inc just "goes away". Thanks for playing. You are now invited to join XII as a direct member.

3. Maybe XBRL US Inc manages a merger with XBRL International. Wow. Now that would be an interesting option. After all, there would only need to be one CEO, one Staff, and one Board. Does anyone see any problems with that? (Ummm, unless you do not happen to live in the US like the current management of both organizations.) 

4. Have one of the major firms "host" the jurisdiction? Say, one of the Big-4, or how about a software vendor or service provider? Does a precedent exist for having a jurisdiction provide software or services in competition with members of the jurisdiction? If so, could it work in other jurisdictions also?

5. Have a local accounting body "host" the jurisdiction, maybe an organization like the FASB (hmmm, government, maybe not) or the SEC (oops, same problem) or maybe the IMA or AICPA, or even the CFA? I wonder how fast such a transition of jurisdiction from a Not-For-Profit company to another Not-For-Profit company could happen, and what legally would need to be done. I wonder how fast the ISC could approve such a transfer of jurisdiction. If (and I'm saying if) the situation required, could the ISC be called into an emergency session to approve a well structured and ready proposal for such a quick transfer?

6. Who would own the assets of XBRL US Inc if (again, I'm saying if) something were to happen? Could the SEC purchase the viewer and provide it as a public good? Could the SEC purchase the Consistency Suite and provide that as a public good?