CEOs posting on the Internet and Reg FD

Former BusinessWeek reporter and author Gary Weiss has an interesting couple of posts on his blog about Overstock.com President Patrick Byrne and his use of the Internet to post potentially market-moving information and wonders where such actions stand in relation to Regulation Fair Disclosure, which requires public companies to disclose information to all interested parties at the same time.

What this typically means for companies is that they file a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the information.

Weiss writes, “Is it kosher under Regulation FD for a CEO to communicate potentially market-moving news in this fashion? Should the propriety of Byrne’s actions be explored by regulators?

“I certainly don’t have an answer to the first question, but I think the second question is a hearty ‘yes.’ (And by the way, I hope he gets a clean bill of health. I think clearly worded press releases are passe’. Give me a cryptic comment on the Internet any day!)

“Still waiting for that big news, by the way.

“P.S. At least two dozen regulatory people read this blog, judging from the email addresses on the mailing list. Come on, guys! Pitch in with some thoughts on this subject. Anonymous comments are OK, but keep ’em clean, please.”

Read Weiss here.