Spam Kings: The Real Story Behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements

Brian S McWilliams

set. de 2014 · "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

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"People are stupid, Davis Wolfgang Hawke thought as he stared at the nearly empty box of Swastika pendants on his desk." So begins Spam Kings, an investigative look into the shady world of email spammers and the people trying to stop them.

This compelling exposé explores the shadowy world of the people responsible for today’s junk-email epidemic. Investigative journalist Brian McWilliams delivers a fascinating account of the cat-and-mouse game played by spam entrepreneurs in search of easy fortunes and anti-spam activists.

McWilliams chronicles the activities of several spam kings, including Hawke, a notorious Jewish-born neo-Nazi leader. You’ll follow this 20-year-old’s rise in the trade, where he became a major player in the lucrative penis pill market—a business that would make him a millionaire and the target of lawsuits. You’ll also meet cyber-vigilantes, such as Susan Gunn, who have taken up the fight against spammers like Hawke.

Explore the sleazy spammer business practices, the surprising new partnership 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.

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Brian McWilliams has been reporting on business and technology issues for over twenty years. His articles have appeared in online publications such as Wired.com and Salon.com as well as in magazines including PC World, Computerworld, InformationWeek, CFO, Across the Board, and Inc. McWilliams gained international attention in 2002 when he wrote about the contents of Saddam Hussein's email inbox.