Naked shorting is illegal. Can there really be 250 million shares illegally short? I certainly agree that there may be a very large short position -- but are they all phantom shares that were not borrowed? Here is a definition of naked shorts:
Please clarify if you mean naked short (illegal) or just short (legal). It DOES make a difference, as the CEO of Overstock.com has insisted for years (with precious little help from the courts or the SEC, which refuses to enforce the law).