Knowledge@Wharton weighs in on the ongoing discussions to soften the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley, particularly the onerous demands of section 404. The article summarizes arguments in favor of and against SOX and concludes as follows:

For all the talk about protecting investor rights, some officials
wonder how much attention investors are really paying to the issues.

At an April 12, 2006, meeting of the SEC's advisory committee,
co-chairman Herbert Wander noted that "…most of the comments we
received [regarding modifications to Section 404] were from issuers. I
think that was to be expected. We received 14 from professional groups
and trade organizations; and the big-eight [sic] accounting firms all
submitted comments. I frankly was disappointed by the lack of
professional investor comments. There were a few, but not really very
many. Perhaps that's a message that we should think about — that their
lack of comments may mean something."

Read more:

Will the SEC Embrace a Softer Sarbanes-Oxley?
Knowledge@Wharton (free registration)
April 18, 2007