ISX CEO - JOHN KARANTZIS v FAIRFAX MEDIA PUBLICATIONS (Mr Joe Aston), page-176

A fact to counter some attempts at misdirection that is going on:

Shorting is NOT a crime or even unethical unless insider trading is involved.

Just like investors are betting that prices would go up, shorters are betting that prices would go down. Opposite to what some people think, the practice of shortselling is actually beneficial for the market at large. It is true that shortselling may cause stock prices to go down temporarily, but if the fundamentals are solid prices would eventually recover. Temporary depreciation in stock prices presents a great investment opportunity for astute investors. Creating great investment opportunities, however, is not the main benefit of shortselling, rather it is underlined by its indirect consequences of helping to keep the market honest.

Before anyone accused me of things, no I am not a shortseller nor am I directly or indirectly associated with any shortseller in any way humanly possible. Shortselling is just part of a healthy market.