Re: Saw this on CNN: Anonymous Stock tips over IRC as bad???

[Jeff Barber <jeffb@sware.com>]

Black Unicorn writes:

> Incorrect.
> The deciding factor is the court's determiniation of whether the 
> information was "material non-public information."  As the question of 
> materiality is vague, subjective and subject to whim, even a low level 
> employee is risking time and fines.  Often materiality has exactly zero 
> to do with what effect it may have on stock price.
> 
> There is a simple solution to avoiding liability.  Don't trade in your 
> own company's stock.
> 
> You make the case that it is somehow shocking to think that an employee 
> wouldn't be able to buy stock in their employer.  Such restrictions have 
> existed for decades.  Why are you so stunned?

I trust it won't stun you to find that many, many large and even small
corporations -- including my current employer [*NOT* SecureWare, BTW,
despite the email address] -- actually encourage their employees to buy
stock by offering stock purchase plans as a benefit of employment.  They
even make it convenient by deducting purchases from one's paycheck.

Presumably then, we ordinary employees are so in-the-dark that any
non-public information we do hold is considered non-material?

So perhaps Tim over-simplified by saying that there were no limits on
what ordinary employees could do.  OTOH, it seems that Perry also
over-simplified by flatly stating that Tim's trades while an Intel
employee were "illegal".


-- Jeff