Mystery "insider" communicates confidential product information about RIM products to tech blog Engadget, says the Globe & Mail in this article. Here's where it gets hardcore -Engadget runs a quote from the mysterious "Genius Boy":

"RIM, I know you love how The Boy Genius has your stock above $80 per share for the first time since April. This is viral marketing at its best. Please look for all my scoops, and reviews here exclusively at Engadget."

If there is even a sliver of truth to BG's claims that his "scoops" have resulted in RIM's stock price rise, 30 per cent in August alone according to the G&M article, this may only be the thin edge of the wedge in how blogs could be used to pump stock prices.

So who is Boy Genius? An employee - it doesn't appear so, as he (or she) seems to have insider scoops on products beyond RIM's alone. Or could BG be the front of what might be a highly successful yet ethically questionable marketing campaign? I would hope not. Or simply, there's a leak the size of a New Orleans levee that needs fixing.

Likewise, is it sufficient to simply state, as a RIM spokesperson is quoted as saying, that “the on-line rumor mill is simply a fact of life for any manufacturer, but it doesn't typically change a company's launch plans." From an outsider's perspective, that seems a tad trite as there appears to be a lot more fire here than smoke.