According the SEC there it appears that there is no such thing as a paid basher, only paid promoters.
sec.gov (topic: Bulletin Boards) [all emphasis has been added]
Bulletin Boards
Online bulletin boards - whether newsgroups, usenet, or web-based bulletin boards - have become an increasingly popular forum for investors to share information. Bulletin boards typically feature "threads" made up of numerous messages on various investment opportunities.
While some messages may be true, some turn out to be bogus - or even scams. Fraudsters often pump up a company or pretend to reveal "inside" information about upcoming announcements, new products, or lucrative contracts.
Also, you never know for certain who you're dealing with - or whether they're credible - because many bulletin boards allow users to hide their identity behind aliases. A single person can easily create the illusion of widespread interest in a small, thinly-traded stock by posting a series of messages under various aliases. People claiming to be unbiased observers who've carefully researched the company may actually be company insiders, large shareholders, or paid promoters.
Click here to read more about online bulletin boards. [which takes you to:]
sec.gov
The Internet serves as an excellent tool for investors, allowing them to easily and inexpensively research investment opportunities. But the Internet is also an excellent tool for fraudsters. That's why you should always think twice before you invest your money in any opportunity you learn about through the Internet.
On October 28, 1998, the SEC announced charges against 44 stock promoters caught in a nationwide enforcement sweep to combat Internet fraud. These promoters failed to tell investors that more than 235 companies paid them millions of dollars in cash and shares in exchange for touting their stock on the Internet.
"Not only did they lie about their own independence, some of them lied about the companies they featured, then took advantage of any quick spike in price to sell their shares for a fast and easy profit," said SEC Director of Enforcement Richard H. Walker.
This alert tells you how to spot different types of Internet fraud, what the SEC is doing to fight Internet investment scams, and how to use the Internet to invest wisely.
Navigating the Frontier: Where the Frauds Are
The Internet allows individuals or companies to communicate with a large audience without spending a lot of time, effort, or money. Anyone can reach tens of thousands of people by building an Internet web site, posting a message on an online bulletin board, entering a discussion in a live "chat" room, or sending mass e-mails. It's easy for fraudsters to make their messages look real and credible. But it's nearly impossible for investors to tell the difference between fact and fiction.
and so on.
IMHO you're not going to be too successful in your quest to get paid bashers to reveal themselves. Nor will it ever be easy to "prove" any basher is paid with anything other than hearsay. Why? Because there are no links to them. They don't set up web pages. They are not "organized" (like, for instance, using a random example off the top of my head, the mob). And the SEC doesn't make any allowance for them because the much bigger problem is on the paid promoter side of things.
I would not be surprised to learn that there are many more paid promoters than paid bashers [I happen to believe they exist]. A ratio of 10 to 1 or even 100 to 1 (paid promoters to paid bashers) would not surprise me.
But to say there aren't any paid bashers is a stretch, IMHO. Human nature being what it is, to think that the chance to make money by talking bad about a stock is not being done by anyone is, IMHO, much harder to believe than the opposite.
I mean, when it comes to looking for the paid basher "fire," it's not like we don't have a lot of "smoke" now is it?
PCM |
