"permission denied" on world-readable app file? this seems very odd

[Chris Pressey]

%erl
Erlang (BEAM) emulator version 5.1.1 [source]
Eshell V5.1.1  (abort with ^G)
1> mnesia:start().
{error,{"permission denied","mnesia.app"}}
2>
lists:member("/usr/local/lib/erlang/lib/mnesia-4.0.2/ebin",code:get_path(
)).
true
3> file:consult("/usr/local/lib/erlang/lib/mnesia-4.0.2/ebin/mnesia.app").
{ok,[{application,mnesia,
                  [{description,"MNESIA  CXC 138 12"},
                   {vsn,"4.0.2"},
                   {modules,[mnesia,
                             mnesia_backup,
                             mnesia_bup,
                             mnesia_checkpoint,
                             mnesia_checkpoint_sup,
                             ...

Have I overlooked something obvious?

-Chris