While a movie made about one Internet billionaire is getting a lot of attention and Oscar buzz, there was a 2009 movie about early Internet pioneers that in many ways is a better film. But it's not every- body's cuppa tea because the Internet pioneer in question made his money not by selling the illusion that you have friends (Facebook), but by figuring out how to sell things over the Net, period.
"Middle Men" is based on the true story of Christopher Mallick, who kinda invented the idea of paying for stuff over the Net using credit cards. Trouble was that the stuff he was selling was porn. Mallick set up a company that acted as a "middle man" between the owners of the porn sites and the customers out there whacking off in cyberspace. Made millions. Fascinating story. In the end Mallick's partners went to prison because they got involved with the Russian mafia and kiddie porn, but he got tipped off early by the FBI because they considered him a hero who had helped them immeasurably in the fight against worldwide terrorism. No shit. It turns out that terrorists were big porn fans. They'd be holed up in some hovel in Afghanistan whacking off to one of his porn sites and paying for it with a credit card the FBI was tracking, and so they were able to pinpoint the terrorists and send a cruise missile to give them a different kind of "happy ending" than they were expecting. Not a great film, but more entertaining in many ways than "The Social Network." Good cast, too. Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht, James Caan, Kevin Pollak, Kelsey Grammer, and others. Lots of attractive women, natch, because it's a film about the porn industry. But don't get all snooty and look down on the porn industry. Every time you pay for something on the Net using a credit card, remember that they invented the technology you're using.
