The author appears to make light of what seems to have been a deliberate attempt by an activist to manipulate the stock market and cause damage to a listed ASX company the activist does not like. On the facts presented, investors have lost $450k and would have lost a lot more if trading had not been suspended. This is not a trivial prank and has cost some investors significant losses.

<<Moylan's fake press release was sent out on ANZ letterhead to 295 recipients at 98 media organisations. It stated the ANZ bank had cancelled its A$1.2 billion financial loan facility…>>

But of course the media is at fault --for any losses -- for not checking!

Anyone who acts as described in this article ought to be considered on a par with those who do similar for financial gain.

<<… known as culture jamming…where public frequencies are pirated and subverted for independent communication, or to disrupt dominant frequencies>>

Another way of saying, override the will of the majority/electorate – as we are increasingly seeing --activists think they are privy to a higher morality that trumps democracy.

He is a dangerous ratbag, trying to force his ideas on everyone else.

As such he should be locked up, the key thrown away, & no communication allowed between him an anyone but his family.

Moylans case appears to be straight forward: Fraud! But, being backed up by the SS (same sex) Nazi’s supreme leader, and master of the green juggernaut, Bob Brown, all appears under control.

This article is a fairly good account of what Moylan did. It only lacks a real account of why he did it which was to alert the public about the imminent loss of the Leard State Forest which is the last great white box woodland in NSW. Until Moylan took his actions the campaign to conserve it, as well as the campaign to oppose the construction of Tinkler's new toy, was low key. Since then there has been a rolling movement of mass civil disobedience as conservationists have attempted to disrupt construction and bring public attention to a mine that, if constructed, will be nothing short of an ecological disaster on many counts including water and air contamination, loss of ground water for agriculture, habitat loss for endangered species, loss of public amenity in the forest itself as well as loss of significant cultural sights for the Gomeroi Traditional Owners who, incidentally, totally oppose the mine.

More information can be had http://frontlineaction.org/

A very broad community of people from a wide range of class and other backgrounds have been part of the protest. It is a community of interest learning how to build alliances around common goals. Significantly, there is good adherence to the principles of non-violent direct action established by Ghandi and further developed by Martin Luther King, to name only two of the luminaries who inform how this protest is run.

Apparently this development, the first Australian popular movement against a coal mine based on principles of respect, inclusion and non-violence, is so alarming that even the spooks have paid attention. What a terrible threat to freedom these conservationists are!

"he had only intended to draw attention.... simply wanted to embarrass the bank."

And you can do that in a myriad of *legitimate* ways.
Petition, picket, publicise.

"any decent business journalist would have verified the information with the ASX prior to publishing"

I don't think either ANZ or Whitehaven Coal are *required* to inform the ASX of any loan they give or receive.

They may choose to, if they think it will benefit them.
Did you mean verify with ANZ?

Why should the media have to spend hours each day "verifying" every message they receive?
It was on official letterhead paper, with the correct spokesperson's name on it! Sheesh!

"Only "high-frequency traders" who sold impulsively within the 39 minutes"

How do you know that?
Stockmarket minutes are like dog years.
39 minutes = 741 hours

Maybe in those 39 minutes Grandma Betty just happened to log on to see what was happening to her nest egg before she made her long-anticipated Hawaii vacation booking.

She managed to sell before having a heart attack.

"there will be a continuing plethora of perplexing questions for the courts to ponder"

What's "perplexing" about fraud?

Give the brat a big slap.

My heart bleeds for those investors who took a hit. But it doesn't bleed very much, remembering that investors on the stock exchange create no wealth whatsoever, merely acquire wealth and allocate wealth and sometimes (sob sob) lose wealth. Meanwhile their company is threatening a precious resource belonging to the Australian nation. Biters sometimes get bit.

This young man committed a crime and should get a jail sentence and a fine maybe not the maximum but how is he or his fellow protesters to learn that it is wrong to take the law into their own hands. The protest at Maules Creek is getting way out of hand and very dangerous. young people in dark clothes jumping in front of trucks loaded with bulldozers at 5am, young girls laying under the bucket of a bulldozer, a young man under a truck ladened with train line bridge parts. One of our young are going to get killed if the law does not start putting these kids in jail to show them there are consequences for there actions.

Maules Creek Resident "The protest at Maules Creek is getting way out of hand"

Yet before it was "low key".

These supposedly earnest activists are just shallow attention-seeking publicity sluts, who only jump on a bandwagon when enough other people do.

Pathetic.