Subject: EYE.NET: Net.culture publisher meets Cancelmoose(TM)
From: [email-masked] (eye WEEKLY)
Date: 19 Jan 1995 09:31:49 -0500
Newsgroups: eye.news,alt.current-events.net-abuse,rec.arts.books

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eye WEEKLY                                             January 19 1995
Toronto's arts newspaper                      .....free every Thursday
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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 ([email-masked]) 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 ([email-masked]) 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 ([email-masked]) 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. 

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