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> The US cannot force those companies to lie. They can force them to stay silent, in which case they'd just say "No comments". If those companies are lying, the
by 394549 8y ago
> The US cannot force those companies to lie. They can force them to stay silent, in which case they'd just say "No comments". If those companies are lying, they are committing security fraud.
Would the US government have to force these companies to lie? It's quite possible that the denials were the result of voluntary cooperation.
- macintux 8y agoA public company issuing such strongly-worded denials that turn out to be untrue would be leaving themselves at risk of an investigation by the SEC and/or a shareholder lawsuit.
- ggggtez 8y agoIt would be pretty extraordinary for the government to sue a company for cooperating with the government. A company has to follow court orders. The government would have to sue itself.
- macintux 8y agoThe SEC prides itself on its independence; I don't think it would have any problem taking on a company that lied on behalf of some other agency of the federal government. Now, a court order would indeed be something different, but I find it hard to conceive of a judge compelling a company to lie.
- PeterisP 8y agoIf they didn't have to lie and there was no legal order but voluntary cooperation, as the grandparent post suggests, then such voluntary misinformation can easily be a violation of SEC requirements; and one part of the government certainly can prosecute you for doing something that another part of the government suggested (but didn't/couldn't legally require), it wouldn't be the first time.