April 6, 2006
Dear Chairman Cox,
I for one would like to thank the SEC for all the world's spammers. Getting investors to look on the internet for the data and investment information that companies are required to provide is consigning them to spam hell. As we have all learned there is nothing on the internet for free. Almost all information is surrounded by ads hawking everything from advice to weight watchers. As a shareholder and a 401K investor, I expect the companies I invest in to provide me with accurate data and stand by what they provide.
Searching for information online, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg. Once you visit these sites they have your email address from your cookies, so you are soon overwhelmed with ad related spam. Heaven help you if you did a search as your cookies and search words are sent to every concievable relationship that can be derived from this search using "smart" technology. Since we are dealing with stocks you are opening the spam gates to every penny stock flack, not to mention services which ask you for information on your investment accounts under the guise of some phoney account activity. This is just what we all need, more spam and scam.
I already receive unsolicited emails for penny stocks on a daily basis.
The only reason I can think of for the SEC to expose investors to enevitable abuse is that there is something in it for you. Could we please have the full disclosure? After what you are asking company executives disclose, the very least you can do is explain to the investing public you are charged with protecting the logic for such a recommendation.
Gerard Lambert
Investor