Spam Kings - Page 2

During the course of his research, McWilliams discovered that many spammers are somehow connected (perhaps in a six degrees of penis enlargement way); as a result, the book also exposes the reader to such characters as Sanford Wallace (called "Spamford" by his anti-spam foes), one of the original spam kings who contends that spam is protected by the First Amendment; Jason Vale, a former champion arm-wrestler and cancer survivor who insisted on bombarding people with email pitches for Laetrile as a cure for cancer, even despite a federal court order requiring him to desist; Alan Moore, otherwise known as "Dr. Fatburn" to purchasers of his diet pills; and a host of others. He also delves into the technical tricks of the trade, from computer viruses creating millions of "spam zombie" hosts to forged headers, open relays, harvesting tools, and more, providing excellent insight into how these bottom feeders find their prey.

Just as interesting are McWilliams' revelations regarding ardent anti-spammers, the folks who have tracked spam back to the lair of those who spewed it, complained to ISPs, created blacklists of spammers, and more. And what is intriguing is the degree to which spammers and anti-spammers both detest one another and yet continue to speak to one another. McWilliams documents countless conversations between anti-spammers and their opponents; often, the spammers complain of being unfairly lumped in with the "real" bad guys in the business. And often spammers seemed willing to provide anti-spammers with information on other spammers, if only in the hope to get a break themselves.

And it's also ultimately an unflattering indictment of our society in general. McWilliams notes that a number of prominent anti-spammers ended up working for their erstwhile foes (supposedly to help fight spam "from the inside"). Many anti-spammers bemoan the fact that once upon a time, "hackers" regarded spammers as a species of insect only worthy of destroying, whereas now many hackers have embraced spam (largely because they've seen the dollar signs). And that's the real problem: that people want the crap peddled by spammers. The Internet lets them set up a little "brown bag" delivery system without ever leaving the comfort and sanctuary provided by their computer screen.

Article Author: Bill Wallo

Bill Wallo is a book and movie junkie.

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