The article is grossly misleading. The market information is *released* to everyone at the same time. The H.F. traders *get it* earlier, because they have a (much) faster connection than you or I do.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100695563
It’s not fundamentally different from the way the Rothchilds used a network of carrier pigeons, to get a stock-trading edge in early 19th century Europe.
No, it's not. It has been admitted to and supposedly corrected when they were found out.