"Spam Kings" is the first book to expose the shadowy world of the people responsible for the junk email problem. Author and veteran investigative journalist Brian S. McWilliams delivers a compelling account of the cat-and-mouse game played by spam entrepreneurs in search of easy fortunes and those who are trying to stop them.
"Spam Kings" chronicles the evolution of Davis Wolfgang Hawke, a notorious neo-Nazi leader (Jewish-born) who got into junk email in 1999. Using Hawke as a case study, Spam Kings traces the twenty-year-old neophyte's rise in the spam trade to his emergence as a major player in the lucrative penis pill market--a business that would eventually make him a millionaire and the target of lawsuits from AOL and others. "Spam Kings" also tells the parallel story of Susan Gunn, a computer novice in California who is reluctantly drawn into the spam wars and eventually joins a group of anti-spam activists. Her volunteer sleuth work puts her on a collision course with Hawke and other spammers, who try to wreak revenge on the antis. You'll also meet other cyber-vigilantes who have taken up the fight against spammers as well as the cast of quirky characters who comprise Hawke's business associates. The book sheds light on the technical sleight-of-hand--forged headers, open relays, harvesting tools, and bulletproof hosting--and other sleazy business practices that spammers use; the work of top anti-spam attorneys; the surprising new partnership developing between spammers and computer hackers; and the rise of a new breed of computer viruses designed to turn the PCs of innocent bystanders into secret spam factories. To order your copy or for more information, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spamkings/ or call 1-800-998-9938 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Spam Kings Brian McWilliams Publisher: O'Reilly ISBN: 0-596-00732-9, 368 pages, $22.95 US, $33.95 CA http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spamkings/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to cancel a subscription to this newsletter, or add subscriptions to other topics, go to http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/user/home For non-automated human help email [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----------------------------------------------------------------
