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Technology Stocks : IDT *(idtc) following this new issue?* -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: musicguy who wrote (9820)	6/23/1999 1:38:00 PM
From: Augustus Gloop	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 30916

<<Where do they draw the line though? If I say, "I like IDTC here and am buying more", does that mean I need a license? Does the fact that Pinkie has a legion of followers change the interpretation of the SEC regs? Does the fact that he has a rating system (e.g. T3 = turd x 3)?? Does the language he uses make his "picks" actual investment advice? I dont have the answer here, just posing questions.>> All very good questions! Let me try and answer them in a fair way here......and god knows I don't have all the answers. Q1 <<"I like IDTC here and am buying more", does that mean I need a license?>> A. No. I don't think that this type of post constitutes a solicitation for others to follow, i.e. it's not a recommendation. Q2 <<Does the fact that Pinkie has a legion of followers change the interpretation of the SEC regs?>> A. A real gray area. But if he is a licensed broker who is providing reports and recommendations to followers is he not acting in an advisory capacity? Q3. <<Does the language he uses make his "picks" actual investment advice?>> A. Again a real gray area. Lets just say that Broker Dealers frown upon advice given over the Internet because it has the potential to create real compliance problems. Is it still done...Yes. These are questions that will soon be addressed by the SEC as it is an area of concern with all the fraud that is taking place on the web. Free Speech is an issue too so it may be an ugly fight. God knows we don't want to have the Internet become so restricted that we can't utter and opinion. Conversely, I find it to be unethical for a broker to make recommendations that may be purely based on his holdings or greed. For a broker to buy stock and then solicit others to do the same after he has loaded his account first is wrong and unethical. I'm not implying that pink is a broker or that he did any of the dirty deeds mentioned above but we DON'T KNOW. Just things to think about and just my thoughts. Any other opinions?