Spitzer Just A Shakedown Artist

from the you-tell-'em dept

Earlier today I complained about the Merrill Lynch settlement for being toothless and unlikely to change a thing. Dan Gillmor does a much better job trashing the agreement. He points out the most important point: out of this $100 million settlement, the people who got screwed by the lying and misleading analysts of Merrill Lynch get a grand total of $0. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gillmor says New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is just another government shake-down artist, getting these firms to pay up a fine that goes directly into the government coffers - and not the people harmed by the actions. It was a weak move by Spitzer, who previously had indicated he really wanted to make a difference. Too bad he couldn't follow through.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    alternatives(), 22 May 2002 @ 12:12am

    Not shocked.

    Consider that companies are 'citizens', yet if you or I did what companies do (Bhopol, exploding pintos, Enron-style misrepresentation) we would be locked up 'till we died.

    At this time its more profitable to break the law and pay the fine. Look at SBC, Microsoft, and now this as examples.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2002 @ 5:46am

    No Subject Given

    Er, I head spitzer in an interview point out that private lawsuits were not effected by the settlement. Since when does the government give fine money to victims anyway? That's what civil suits are for.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Timaaay!, 22 May 2002 @ 7:40am

      Re: No Subject Given

      Yeah but Merril Lynch didn't have to admit they did anything wrong which means its more difficult (although in todays litigious society I doubt it will take long) to get a civil settlement.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.