Merrill Lynch Cracking Down on Sell-Side Research Piracy

Merrill Lynch is cracking down on unauthorized digital distribution of analyst research. The sell-side has been getting a bad rap for some time, first that sell-side research was no good.

So, analyst work has gotten better, but now a) it's getting gamed by non-clients, and b) few read the stuff because their traditional client base has collapsed, only to be replaced by what-ideas-have-you-given-me-five-minutes-ago hedge fund managers.

Read more here from a Merrill letter on how it is fighting the Napster-ization of its research product.