Xref: sloth alt.current-events.net-abuse:14501 rec.arts.books:27270 Path: sloth!pagesat.net!internet.spss.com!uchinews!ncar!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!hookup!interlog.com!not-for-mail From: eye@interlog.com (eye WEEKLY) Newsgroups: eye.news,alt.current-events.net-abuse,rec.arts.books Subject: EYE.NET: Net.culture publisher meets Cancelmoose(TM) Followup-To: eye.general,alt.current-events.net-abuse,rec.arts.books Date: 19 Jan 1995 09:31:49 -0500 Organization: eye -- Toronto's Arts Newspaper Lines: 124 Approved: eye@interlog.com Message-ID: <3flt4l$qn5@gold.interlog.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: gold.interlog.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY January 19 1995 Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EYE.NET EYE.NET THE SPAM THAT CRIED WOLFF Net.culture book publisher meets Cancelmoose(TM) by K.K. CAMPBELL I'd been sent two books for review -- Net Chat and Net Games -- from Michael Wolff & Company, Inc. (Random House). They're pretty shallow but broad overviews of different "entertainment spots" on the net -- unfortunately, they define "net" as including BBSs like CompuServe and Prodigy, etc. I was pondering what to do with them when the answer became glaringly apparent. Read on for a textbook tale of PR nightmare, or how to use Usenet to commit commercial suicide. All the more striking because the kamikaze pilot in question publishes books on net.culture! MICHAEL WOLFF, SON OF SPAM Friday, Dec. 9: Wolff spams about 150 promo ads for his book Net Chat. By a 9-to-1 margin, netters agree Wolff is spamming. Spam: the deliberate reposting of the same message over and over and over. Note: spams aren't necessarily ads. Just seems that way. Get Rich Quick small-business hustlers make natural spammer material. They think Usenet newsgroups are perfect for Old Guard advertising, i.e., clubbing people mercilessly with the same message. Just like on TV, but for only $30 a month! Well, it ain't TV -- as Wolff, the great net.guru, learned the hard way. Tuesday, Dec. 13: The Wolff spam is erased by Cancelmoose(TM), an anonymous individual who issues messages to cancel spam attacks. When these cancels arrive at a site, they erase the attack. Netters who then log in never see the originals. Monday, Jan. 2: Wolff (editors@ypn.com) publicly responds. And it is here I realize what to recommend regarding his books -- do not buy them. Not because Wolff "advertised" on Usenet. But because the episode reveals him to be clueless. And why would I suggest you buy a book about net.culture from someone who is clueless about net.culture? IN YOUR JESUS CHRIST POSE Wolff played the martyr in his Jan. 2 response. "Because Net Chat is available for sale in bookstores -- and is therefore a commercial product -- the Cancelmoose(TM) deemed our messages to be a `spam' and cancelled them all," he wrote. "In addition, given the opinionated nature of the posts, it is not unlikely that the Cancelmoose(TM) found some of our views about particular groups not to his liking and exercised his singular prerogative for even more subjective reasons." Cancelmoose(TM) responded directly. "They were deemed spam because it was the same thing posted 150 times. I don't care if your message was newsgroup opinions or religious sermons or the recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The nature of the opinions expressed are irrelevant to spam determination." And Wolff knows that or is a fool, Cancelmoose(TM) told eye. Paul Phillips (paulp@primus.com) questioned whether Wolff's original ads really were a spam, but Wolff's reply convinced him Cancelmoose(TM) was right. "You, sir, are intellectually dishonest," Phillips replied to Wolff, calling Wolff's story total PR bullshit. "It's the story you're taking to print media because it allows you to capitalize on the nonexistent `poor advertisers vs. Internet fanatics' paradigm promulgated by reporters. Do you really think you can fool us so easily?" Phillips says Wolff sounds exactly like Canter & Siegel, the Green Card Lawyers who spammed the net several times and have the distinction of being the most hated couple in the history of the Internet. "Give them a call! You can team up." It should be pointed out that Wolff, the net.guru, is so clueless he didn't even know how to crosspost his Jan. 2 response. It was posted individually to three different groups. Only when this was pointed out did Wolff's staff quietly cancel the three and crosspost it properly. Crossposting isn't rocket science. It's an extremely basic function, like using a remote control to change TV channels. Would you buy a "Guide to TV" from an "expert" who doesn't know how to use a remote? In the end, Wolff's persona as "guide to net.culture" is permanently damaged, at least among people who use the net. But he can still fool the uninformed, including the gullible press, through his massive promotional machine. He found a shoulder to cry on in the Dallas Morning News, which ran a story called "Cybervigilante targets Internet author". The reporter swallowed Wolff's entire story, calling Cancelmoose(TM) a "terrorist." (Recall: the Morning News is that high-tech, cutting-edge paper that reported on Intel's Pentium fiasco -- calling Intel "Until" and the Megatest "Megadeath." What a coup to have them onside.) Many still shake their heads at what possessed Wolff to react so stupidly. As Melinda Shore (shore@tc.cornell.edu) of No Mountain Software noted: "You wouldn't think that someone trying to peddle a product would go so far out of his way to piss off his potential customers." Wolff, like his mentors C&S, damages all commercial interests by reinforcing a growing stereotype of business on Usenet: stupid, inconsiderate, unable to dialogue and ready to strike a Jesus Christ pose before the press. "We stand by our posts," he defiantly proclaims in his Jan. 2 statement. His posts languish in the digital dumpster, so that says a lot. Bestow a similar honor upon his books. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright Issues of eye in archive http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available gopher://interlog.com eye@interlog.com "Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421