AppleInsider makes a very good point about Tim Cook's appearance before a Senate panel to defend Apple from charges of tax evasion yesterday:

Though some such as U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) portrayed Apple's tax strategy as "unique," at least in scope, the tax shelter practice known by attorneys as the "Double Irish" is also utilized by tech companies Google and Yahoo.

Google has moved foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands, allowing to avoid about $2 billion in income taxes a year, according to Bloomberg. But unlike Apple, which manages its Irish subsidiary in the U.S., Google goes one step further and manages its Irish branch through Bermuda — a British territory that has no corporate income tax.

Yahoo, too, is said to deposit its profits in an Irish subsidiary. Like Apple, Yahoo says its Irish arm is not a tax resident to avoid corporate income taxes. But Yahoo also employs a strategy similar to Google and claims its tax residency offshore, in the Cayman Islands.

Apple is not unique in this. They just have gotten more attention because everyone knows they're sitting on an unthinkably huge pile of money. But does any of this matter? After the chummy way John McCain ended the Apple tax investigation yesterday...

...I'd be shocked to learn that anything is going to change.