And referencing the brokerages responsiblities even further ( this would certainly explain whose at "blame" for the original insider sales):
Notwithstanding the fact that the
customer may not intend to sell
short, a member that offers online
trading services to its customers
must program such systems to
ensure that the member is complying
with all trading and market-making
rules, including the short sale
rules. In other words, when the
above referenced situations occur,
members’ systems should consider
the stock positions in customer
accounts and the number and status
of all orders and cancellation
instructions. Member firm automated
systems should execute such
short sales in compliance with the
short sale rules, and NASDRSM and
Nasdaq recommend that firms
design their systems to provide
customers with notice when they
may have placed an “inadvertent”
short sale. In sum, the means of
receipt of a short sale and the
“inadvertent” nature of a short sale
in no way eliminate or reduce the
obligations of member firms to comply
with the short sale rules.
This is not a reco to buy! Please do your DD!
