Spam Kings: Book Review
Spam Kings by Brian McWilliams and published by O'Reilly calls itself "The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters pushing porn, pills and @*#?% Enlargements".
Written like a high-tech cat-mouse game, Spam Kings tells a riveting story of many of the biggest online peddlers of spam and the the computer activists trying to stop them. The personalities themselves and their motivations make for fascinating reading.
Some of the most interesting sections detail the rise of a neo-nazi who became a millionaire selling penis enlargement pills and a computer newbie who joined and anti-spam activist community to track down and punish spammers like him. As spammers and activists taunt each other over email, the newsgroups and instant messaging, the spam industry grows, threats and counter-threats boil over and history is made.
Along with these two major players, you'll read about others who peddled pills as cures for cancer, stock scams, diet pills and pirated software. Surprisingly, not even all the spammers are in it for the money as one man searches for videos of men tickling themselves!
The books is also revealing in that the line between spammers and anti-spammers isn't always clear as some cross over.
Though it's a large read, at 333 pages in hardcover, Spam Kings was difficult to put down. I highly recommend it.
Written like a high-tech cat-mouse game, Spam Kings tells a riveting story of many of the biggest online peddlers of spam and the the computer activists trying to stop them. The personalities themselves and their motivations make for fascinating reading.
Some of the most interesting sections detail the rise of a neo-nazi who became a millionaire selling penis enlargement pills and a computer newbie who joined and anti-spam activist community to track down and punish spammers like him. As spammers and activists taunt each other over email, the newsgroups and instant messaging, the spam industry grows, threats and counter-threats boil over and history is made.
Along with these two major players, you'll read about others who peddled pills as cures for cancer, stock scams, diet pills and pirated software. Surprisingly, not even all the spammers are in it for the money as one man searches for videos of men tickling themselves!
The books is also revealing in that the line between spammers and anti-spammers isn't always clear as some cross over.
Though it's a large read, at 333 pages in hardcover, Spam Kings was difficult to put down. I highly recommend it.
posted by Jason @ 12:42 a.m.
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