11.   Known as Reg FD, the rule prohibits selective disclosure to only some analysts or investors.

12.   Maytag chief executive Lloyd Ward said in a telephone interview Tuesday that the company would never engage in selective disclosures to investors or analysts.

13.   Small investors have been put at a disadvantage by selective disclosure for years, he said.

14.   Such a defeat by the commission would seem to ratify the practice of selective disclosure.

15.   That sometimes spurs a deeper degree of selective disclosure, which is precisely what companies should try to avoid, Feldman argues.

16.   The high profile given to the practice of selective disclosure, however, has had some impact.

17.   The problem, say critics, is that the rule will lead to unintended consequences that might turn out to be worse than selective disclosure.

18.   The practice is known as selective disclosure.

19.   The rule prohibits the selective disclosure of information like earnings and revenue projections, announcement of new products, discoveries and other facts crucial to making an investment decision.

20.   Then those who argue that selective disclosure is a rare thing might find that it was no longer so unusual.