99% Invisible You've Got Enron Mail!
Nov 11, 2020
Dan Bobcoff, a journalist who reported on the Enron email saga, and Pat Wood, a former energy regulator at FERC, delve into the powerful impact of Enron's emails. They reveal how these communications have influenced technology and communication ethics, while also illustrating the corporate fraud that led to Enron's downfall. The conversation raises questions about privacy and the consequences of analyzing personal messages, transforming a corporate scandal into a valuable dataset that shapes today’s understanding of human interaction.
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Enron's Downfall
- Enron, a major energy trading company, went bankrupt in 2001 due to fraud.
- The company's manipulation of California's deregulated energy market, including creating artificial shortages, was a key factor.
The Email Dump
- FERC, investigating Enron's market manipulation, obtained a massive amount of company emails.
- The decision to release the emails publicly was made with less concern for privacy than there would be today.
Birth of the Enron Corpus
- The released Enron emails, initially disorganized, became a valuable resource.
- Researchers cleaned, organized, and dubbed them the 'Enron Corpus'.