I know that. I'm asking specifically about the semantics of "theft" vs "fairness" here. I don't think the word "theft" makes much sense in this context.
I think the theft angle here is analogous to the theft angle in piracy of digital content.
When I take information entrusted to me by my company and use that information to profit in the market, I have taken information, used it in a manner not authorized, and profited.
That's different from someone else unaffiliated with the company independently deriving the information, using it in the market, and profiting.
As an example, the researchers who discovered VW's cheating on diesel emissions tests (assuming they were independent) would be perfectly within their rights to short or buy puts on Volkswagen. VW executives who were responding to the EPA inquiry or otherwise discovered the cheating would not be within their rights. In both cases, there was a moment where that information was material to the valuation of VW and not public, yet one group could legally trade on it and another could not.
