No joke, this has been brewing for quite awhile. (October?)
http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/Proceedings_soa_20100401_agoracom.htm
It was no doubt a conflict of interest and who knows how deep the deceptions really ran.
I for one was about to quit the site, we post and base many investment decisions on what we read, the thought that they were paid posters to sway sentiment is deceit.
It has cleaned up and calmed down since those days...but it certainly made me more cautious.
GS40