Whose Gold coins do high-frequency traders pick up?

With respect to the benefits of shaving three milliseconds from the time an order reaches the market, Ben van Vliet, a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, has the following to say (Forbes Magazine, 27 Sept 2010): "Three milliseconds are close to an eternity in automated trading, this is all about picking gold coins up off the floor--only the fastest person is going to get the coins." If a statement like this is not a wake-up call to the regulators all over the world the individual investor (who ultimately is the owner of every penny invested in the financial markets even though the majority is managed for him by all sort of fiduciaries) has no chance to get fair treatment in the investment game. (17/09/2010)