"A federal judge fined accounting firm Andersen $500,000 and sentenced it to five years probation for obstructing justice in a probe of client Enron, a hollow punishment as the auditor is all but out of business.

Since it is a corporate conviction, no one will serve jail time. But the firm, which keeps a minimal corporate structure primarily to settle mountains of litigation, will have to pay the fine and one of its employees will likely have to meet with federal probation authorities.