So you go to an event or something. Company guy says something stupid that convinces you they're doomed to fail and then you make money by shorting their company's stock. That's illegal?
Certainly you can't have your friend Bob who works at Acme tell you stuff then suddenly you're in the clear. That isn't how it works.
But if let's say Bob does something dumb that leaks info publicly, sure - it's public now. You can trade on it.
I'm far from a lawyer but there's nuance here.
So you go to an event or something. Company guy says something stupid that convinces you they're doomed to fail and then you make money by shorting their company's stock. That's illegal?