Mrs. sharklady, I would like to see "all"...
criminals brought to justice, including paid bashers and pumpers if they are breaking the law. I am also a firm believer in the first amendment and every other part of our Constitution. This being said, I think it would be difficult to successfully prosecute someone for posting their honest opinions, regardless if they were paid or not. I simply think that's a right we have as Americans.
The reality of the situation is that with the recent melt down of the markets, I doubt seriously if any kind of message board posters are a very high priority with the SEC or any other related agency. Unlike what hogman said, I do not think the SEC is "a bunch of on-the-take crooks". While they probably have their bad apples, I personally think most of them are hard working honest people.
I think they are much more interested in crooked companies like GlobeTel/Sanswire than message board posters. I think that is why they are investigating GlobeTel/Sanswire and we have never heard they were investigating a GTEM message board poster.