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Pastimes : Investment Chat Board Lawsuits -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StockDung who wrote (1120)	2/24/2001 4:00:55 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 12465

TS, I don't think Lebed was part of any "group" nor that his father was posting on SI. I think the kid was just plain making stuff up as part of his effort to create a fictitious and influential on-line persona. I'm writing a reply to the author of the NY Times article, a draft of which is below: ===== If Jonathan Lebed had used his phone to con senior citizens into forking over their social security checks to buy merchandise he had wildly inflated in value, would that also not have been "wrong" because everyone does that as well? Is bilking nameless faceless people on the Internet somehow morally different? Apparently Michael Lewis thinks so. In his world, if someone is naive about a technology or a marketplace they deserve to get suckered by someone like Lebed. Yes, something should be done about market manipulation by analysts and brokerage houses. Yes, there are lots of apparently similar crimes in other professions that seemingly go unpunished. However, let's not forget that Lebed wasn't trying to call attention to any potential inequities; he was simply trying to line his own pockets. And, yes, Michael, that is "wrong". - Jeff