Investigators: No evidence that poster of Jobs heart attack rumor profited

I can't even comprehend how people can believe that this guy should get in trouble. Even if it was just a practical joke, he should not be liable at all.

If what you are trying to say was the case, then people would find a way to make someone else liable in every case. The fact that people are suing each other for anything these days is bad enough.

For instance the fact the TUAW completly screwed up this article first go should not be a problem. But pretend that the guy that is spoken about in this article owned a public company and you had shares in it. Then, due to the misinformation in the article, you lost money though the temporary stock drop. Are you going to tell me that TUAW is liable for being human and making a mistake of fact?

Anyway, this is not an attack on anyone, rather a vent.

Cheers,
Karl

I mean censorship figuratively, not literally. Sorry for the confusion. But what I mean is... At what level do you tell people that they are responsible for what they say? If I say something that is not true, even by accident, and you lose money, you are telling me that I am liable. But I don't even know you. Again, I'm just a dude. Not CNN. I don't think even CNN would be responsible by the way, mistakes happen all the time and they seem to be able to just apologize.

Where does such "responsibility" stop? What's the next thing that I would say that I am responsible for?

"Censorship" is something completely different and means that the government forbids a certain opinion before it is published. That's not the case her. Again you CAN post what you "believe" in, as long as you don't interfere with other's rights. A company has its own rights, too, similar to a living person.

what right is Josh's rumor post interfering with? It's a choice to be buy apple stock, and that comes with all the attendant risks. Including false rumors, true rumors, facts, and anything else that affects the stock price. No one has a right to own apple stock risk-free. What about all the rumor sites that build up apple stock in the expectation of the next apple product, only to find they were wrong, and then the stock sells off? Should they be held liable too?

Now, if Josh actually had bought puts or shorted the stock outright, and then profited, that is direct market manipulation, and illegal.

If a rumor is false, the stock should come back to normal levels anyway, and if you're truly invested in aaple, there is no change over the long term. In fact, it's even a buying opportunity for long term investors. If you're a short term day trader, then you might have lost money. But again, that's the risk you take investing that way.

Where does censorship end if someone can't post what he believes? A news source should be held to a higher standard, of course. But an individual is just that. People shouldn't be so dumb to react to an unverfied source. The fault belongs to the investors who sold, not josh.

In America, we have the right to free speech and he has the right to say what he wants. You have the right to believe or not to believe him.

In regards to the stock price dropping, that reflects the whole market sentiment and the general concern that there is over Jobs' health. The market is volatile, and AAPL stock is volatile. If you can't handle the volatility, then you shouldn't be in the stock. Investing in AAPL is not a bank account. Your money is npt guaranteed. You should put your money elsewhere rather than get worried about someone accidentally causing a momentary stock price blip. We also have a free market ......

Bhavesh.

Well whoever you are, posting information about some secret product development is one thing, spreading the rumor that Apple's CEO died is something else. I think it is not unfair to punish you for that as REAL money was burned because of your misbehavior. I don't want to argue about if it's right or wrong that everyone so much connects Apple's future with Steve Jobs' health but that's the situation. Relying on an unidentified source doesn't protect you from liability, at least in Germany it doesn't.

Ok, I'm a regular TUAW reader, I HAVE to say something. They may not have released any names yet, but I'm the one that posted the story. You guys here at tuaw with access to the proper info can confirm that by seeing that the email I'm currently using is the same one I sent the original tip with. I'd just like to say that I'm getting sick of people that judge this situation without actually knowing anything about it. I read all these blogs with people commenting, saying things like I should be prosecuted. How exactly can you say that unless you know all the circumstances? If you'd like the gist of what happened, I made the same mistake that Silicon Alley Insider made: I didn't verify the authenticity of the story before I posted it to iReports. At the time of posting, I believed it to be true, as it came from a source I've talked with numerous times, who has always given me reliable information regarding Apple, things that hadn't even appeared on TUAW or other Apple-oriented blogs yet, but always ended up being true, I had NO reason to doubt what I was told. The entire story is a bit too long for me to post here, so anyone with questions, ask away. I'm more than happy to answer, I have nothing to hide. This was not done with any intention of hurting OR helping anyone, financially or otherwise. I have nothing but the highest respect for Steve Jobs, and Apple as a whole. And BTW, this isn't a joke, this is really me. I may not be back till later, but I'll answer questions when I do.

"why not apply to blog for TUAW? Here's what we need from you:
3 sample posts written in TUAW's style."

Do all three need to be completely bass ackwards or just a subset??

Robert,

You mean to tell me that the writers or TUAW are human and able to make mistakes? Well, I'm going to stop reading this blog until there are robots writing the articles in perfect form with dynamic text that appeals directly to the person reading it so that I am never bothered with having to choose wether or not I wish to read (or believe) the post. Gosh. ;-)

The guy who apparently profited was probably the "corrupt" Merrill Lynch officer.