"If the SEC can’t—or won’t—shut down companies such as GVBP, what good is it?" I have no answer. The pretext of free speech does not cover commercial speech claiming cures for cancer, non-existent patents, and the other bilge being pumped here. The S. E. C. obviously has no interest in shutting down penny scams--I know of several which are still twitching after years of obfuscation--and simply points to information on its website warning people about them. The people who fall for them are scarcely able to read, let alone understand, the warnings.