Spam Kings

This fascinating book reveals the dramatic cat-and-mouse game played by spam entrepreneurs in search of easy fortunes, and those who are trying to keep the Internet safe for email. "Spam Kings chronicles the evolution of Davis Wolfgang Hawke, a notorious neo-Nazi leader and chess master who got into junk email in 1999. Using the colorful and enigmatic Hawke as a case study, the narrative traces his rise in the spam trade, from his lonely apprenticeship in a South Carolina trailer to his emergence as a major player in the lucrative penis pill market. This business would eventually make the twenty year-old a millionaire--and the target of a major lawsuit from America Online. "Spam Kings offers unusually candid profiles of other major spam kingpins responsible for the junk email problem, and describes the tricks of their trade. The book also reveals the behind-the-scenes actions of anti-spam vigilantes, including a powerful, largely anonymous group known as Spamhaus.