Can a hedge fund advertise?

A 5star answer would provide a very short explanation and links. Thanx : )

Hedge funds cannot advertise. However, the SEC does permit hedge fund
performance databases on the Internet.

"Despite its rules on who may invest, the SEC has almost no authority
over what goes on inside a hedge fund. And so it does its best to
restrict what goes on outside.

Hedge funds cannot advertise. They cannot post their results. They
cannot seek publicity in the mass media."

Dallas Business Journal: HedgeScan's `sword' gives it a cutting edge
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/1998/08/24/focus1.html

"First, hedge funds in general are not registered with the SEC. They
have been able to avoid registration by limiting the number of
investors and requiring that their investors be accredited, which
means they meet an income or net worth standard. Furthermore, hedge
funds are prohibited from soliciting or advertising to a general
audience, a prohibition that lends to their mystique."

Investopedia: Introduction to Hedge Funds 
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/112603.asp

From the SEC, here's a description of the situation written in "legalese": 

"General Solicitation and Advertising by Hedge Funds are Prohibited Under Both
the ?33 and ?40 Acts. 

A hedge fund typically begins its venture by offering securities to
investors utilizing Section 4(2) of the ?33 Act and the safe harbor
rules of Regulation D, particularly Rule 506. Under Rule 506, the
offering of the fund does not have to be registered as a security with
the Commission or any state, but instead employs a notice filing. A
main premise of this rule is that there will be no general
solicitation or advertising."

US. Securities and Exchange Commission: Supplemental Comment Opposing
General Advertising for Hedge Funds
http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/4-476/4476-85.pdf

Internet databases of hedge fund performances are not considered by
the SEC to be general solicitation or advertising:

"Hedge funds are private... since the investments are made pursuant to
a Regulation D offering, hedge funds cannot advertise, and cannot make
general solicitations to the public. However, a recent SEC no action
letter has permitted the use of the Internet in some limited
circumstances by hedge funds, as an earlier letter did for the
Regulation D offerings."

Securities Law Homepage: Hedging Your Bets
http://www.seclaw.com/docs/998hedgefund.htm 

More on the no-action letter mentioned above:

"A May 6, 1997, 'no-action letter' from the SEC to Lamp Technologies
of Dallas indicating that an online hedge-fund database would not
violate restrictions against marketing hedge funds. The landmark
letter cleared the way for others to launch hedge-fund performance
databases on the Internet, and expressed the SEC's opinion that such
databases did not represent the type of general hedge-fund advertising
that was prohibited under rule 502(c) of Regulation D under the
Securities Act of 1933."

Hedge Fund Alert: Glossary
http://www.hfalert.com/NewPages/Index.cfm?Article_ID=61250

Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "hedge funds" "advertise OR solicit"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22hedge+funds%22+advertise+OR+solicit

I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud