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You'd think some people would learn - you don't try to circumvent SEC rules. You'll likely get caught and the penalty will be much more than any gain you may have achieved.

Take these muppets who are former AOL employees. They tried to pull a fast one on the SEC.

"The men were accused with engaging in a scheme to artificially inflate revenue reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by engaging in secret side deals, back-dated contracts and revenue swaps, according to the indictment."

Working for a public company, I am painfully aware of the SEC rules - especially Sarbanes "bloody" Oxley. What is interesting is that no matter how many rules you put in place, one common theme persists... legitimate companies abide by them (despite having more cost and time), shady companies will still break them!

Andy Beal is an internet marketing consultant and considered one of the world's most respected and interactive search engine marketing experts. Andy has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies such as Motorola, CitiFinancial, Lowes, Alaska Air, DeWALT, NBC and Experian.

You can read his internet marketing blog at Marketing Pilgrim and reach him at andy.beal@gmail.com.