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By David Gardner
May 1, 2002

An otherwise nondescript article in yesterday's LA Times is worthy of note to you as a Fool Community member, or potential member. Entitled "SEC Files New Charges Against Teen," we read of a young guy named Cole Bartiromo, 17, who made $91,000 pumping up stocks on Internet message boards. Mr. Bartiromo had a list of 15 microcap stocks he would purchase in large blocks, go on to Internet message boards, hype up with supposed news stories from CNBC et al., and then sell hours later for gains of as much as 370%.

This is an old story. We recognized the potential for such Internet abuses beginning eight years ago this month, when we pulled our celebrated Zeigletics ploy -- creating a fictional company on a fictional exchange and "hyping" it to parody the antics of such abusers -- which today forms an amusing appendix in our Motley Fool Investment Guide.

So why comment on this article today? Simply as a reminder. It's not a reminder that such abuses are possible on the Internet -- that's a lesson that most of our 3 million Motley Fool members already recognize, and have for a long time.

No, it's just a reminder that you're using a site where this junk doesn't happen. The Times mentioned common companions Raging Bull and Yahoo! as the sites for Mr. Bartiromo's shenanigans. Anonymous, unstaffed environments that de-emphasize accountability provide a venue for the Bartiromos of the world. This has been going on for years.

Our message boards are often called the Internet's best (e.g., Forbes Magazine's "Best Community on the Web") -- and not just limited to finance. Backed by our common courtesy Fool's Rules and a broad TMF staff that is second to none, we aim to provide you an interactive environment that is friendly and focused on learning. Our discussion boards' mission is Learning Together, and we thank the scores of paying members who every day achieve just that right here at Fool.com.

Our aims for Fool Community are simple and plain -- for this to be the most active, valuable, greatest community in the online world.

(If you haven't yet taken a 30-day trial spin around our boards, you can sign up here.)

We select Community Articles from messages that members of The Motley Fool community (and not Fool employees) post to Fool discussion boards to provide interesting perspectives. Posts are edited only for readability (plus spelling). They may not reflect the opinions of The Motley Fool or its employees, who cannot warrant that they are accurate, useful or fun (although we hope they are). The authors may hold positions in the securities they mention. As always, don't make financial decisions based just upon what you read here - do your own homework and make your own decisions. For more information click here