Answering seven biggest questions on the DraftKings data leak

— -- The integrity of the daily fantasy sports industry is under heavy scrutiny due to employee access to advantageous data that is unavailable to the public. While industry sources suggest the initial incident is being overblown, critics -- and some players -- say it has exposed dangerous flaws in the unregulated billion-dollar industry. Here are seven questions -- along with answers -- that many fantasy players as well as casual observers are asking right now.

What happened?

On Sunday, Sept. 27, after the early NFL games had kicked off but before the late afternoon slate had begun, an employee for daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings published data revealing what players were included on the most rosters. The same weekend, the employee, written content manager Ethan Haskell, finished second in a million-dollar fantasy contest on competing daily fantasy site FanDuel. He won $350,000.

According to a statement from DraftKings, Haskell did not receive the data until 1:40 p.m., 40 minutes after rosters locked on FanDuel.

The daily fantasy sports industry is unregulated, and thus no independent investigation is available.

A week later, the controversy has escalated into an international story, and industry insiders believe it is a prime example for why daily fantasy needs outside regulation.

Why does the ownership data matter?

There is debate over how big of an edge knowing the ownership percentage of players produces, but the majority believes it is indeed an edge, and one that is magnified by high-level players, who often enter hundreds of lineups.

"It would be an advantage," David Kaplen, a high-level daily fantasy player, said of knowing accurate ownership data before rosters lock. "What we're dealing with is information. The better information you have, the more it's going to help you in the long run. It wouldn't guarantee you anything, but over the course of time, it would help you in the long run. There's no doubt."

Ownership data, under normal circumstances, is not revealed to the public until after games start. FanDuel publishes ownership data after the Thursday night game kicks off, and rosters for the week are locked and cannot be changed at that time. However, many DFS players do use the FanDuel ownership to form and estimate of ownership percentages for other sites, including DraftKings, which does allow rosters to be adjusted after Thursday's game and up until the early Sunday kickoffs.

One additional concern that multiple DFS players told ESPN Chalk about employee access to data is the ability to look at high-level players' lineups, copy them and enter them on another site. Some are saying that's more of a concern than the ownership percentages.

On Tuesday, FanDuel spokesperson Justine Sacco told ESPN Chalk that only 0.3 percent of total money won on its site has been won by DraftKings employees, which would be less than $10 million.

Jerry Jones and Patriots owner Robert Kraft are investors in DraftKings. Kraft, through a team spokesperson, declined to comment on the controversy.