• Wired, Tuesday, October 7, 2008 9:30 AM

The "citizen journalist" who recently posted an erroneous story on a CNN site that said Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a heart attack could face criminal charges and possibly prison. "People generally do this kind of thing because they have a position in the stock and they want to see it go one way or the other," says Scott Vernick, a Philadelphia attorney.

The erroneous story that appeared for 12 minutes on CNN's iReport -- a citizen journalism site pitched as "unedited" -- prompted a sell-off of Apple shares before Apple denied the report and the stock recovered.

Information seeded on one of the Internet's premiere news brands can seep into the markets instantaneously, and the subject of Jobs' health is exactly the sort of front-burner item that would tend to catch fire. In such a scenario, 12 minutes is plenty of time for someone with inside information to make a killing, say legal experts.

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