[nerdponx]

The end goal here is to stop suspected illegal pump & dump activity.

The definition of "pump & dump" is to make false or misleading statements in order to get the price to go up, so that you can sell. It is not free market activity; it is fraud.

[rufus_foreman]

Here's Wikipedia's definition of "free market":

"In economics, a free market is a system in which the prices for goods and services are self-regulated by the open market and by consumers. In a free market, the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government or other authority"

If you outlaw pump and dump scams, it's not a free market. I tend towards favoring less government rather than more, but I wouldn't invest in stocks in any sort of free market environment.

[nojokes]

So imagine, you hold a large amount of stock of one particular company. If I put a gun on your head and tell you to sell your stock, it is a free market?

[rufus_foreman]

I don't know, according to the Wikipedia definition is it?

I'm not going to be around forever, you need to start figuring these things out for yourself.