Business & Professional Ethics 6th Edition by Leonard Brooks

Exercise 19

Assume that Firm A is a publicly traded company that puts its financial statements on the web. This information can be accessed and read by anyone, even those who do not own shares of Firm A. This a free-rider situation, where an investor can use Firm A as a means to making an investment decision about another company. Is this ethical? Does free-riding treat another individual as a means and not also as an end?