Like Ron, I'm not exactly holding my breath that any copies of IF I DID IT that "accidentally" didn't get pulped will make its way to my doorstep (not to mention that the likelihood if it being a compelling read is about zero.) Of much more interest is how the book deal and TV special's kibosh will ripple through the industry - and if anyone will be held accountable. Because just when we think the story ends, another wrinkle comes to light, as AP's Hillel Italie reports that Simpson's former sister-in-law, Denise Brown, accused the media company behind the project of trying to buy her family's silence.

"They wanted to offer us millions of dollars. Millions of dollars for, like, 'Oh, I'm sorry' money. But they were still going to air the show," Brown said on the Today Show this morning. "We just thought, 'oh my god.' What they're trying to do is trying to keep us quiet, trying to make this like hush money, trying to go around the civil verdict, giving us this money to keep our mouths shut." News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher confirmed that he company had conversations with representatives of Nicole Brown Simpson's and Ron Goldman's families over the past week and that the families were offered all profits from the planned Simpson book and television show, but he denied that it was hush money. "There were no strings attached," Butcher said.

Continuing the theme of accountability, Michael Cader said in today's Publishers Lunch, "whether it's through Judith Regan's unit alone...or through damage to the reputation of the company and its management, HarperCollins will feel the repercussions for some time to come. Long-term they still have a lot to answer for and clarify, whether Regan stays or goes. And short-term, can you really look at the wave of Harper publicity for their biggest book of the season starting next Tuesday and not think about this?" Which is why the sales figures on Michael Crichton's NEXT will be closely, closely watched in early December - if the book doesn't perform to expectations, will it be the result of the fallout from the OJ antics?

PW's Sara Nelson is heartened by what happened and what it shows about the industry's willingness to take a stand. "All this, I think, is good news for the publishing business, and for books in general: it proves that there are limits to what a publisher is willing to do to sell books; and it proves that people care about what those books promote or evoke." Nelson does admit that the turnaround is rather ironic, though. "It used to be that publishing declared its morality, its values, its world view by the books it chose to publish. Now, it seems, the business declares itself by what it refuses to publish." For the time being, anyway - until the next deal comes along that has the power to shock and appall, at least for a few minutes...