Ed, I didn't see any reference by the SEC to spam emails -
I did see repeated accusations and references to a continuous stream of False and misleading PRs issued by those companies. If individuals emailed those false and misleading PRs to a wide email audience, that may or may not be a concern to the SEC.
I would think the SEC regulates public companies. If someone, say Joe Lanza, had spammed with PR's generated by BD, that might be considered as if the company itself, had done so.
A Public Company Issuing False Statements is a far cry from someone spamming.
What did I miss?