We should all stumble so well
By Dave
February 27th, 2009 | Leave a comment
Stealing MySpace tells the tale of spam, spyware, porn and dubious identities in the spawning of one of the great Internet phenomena of this decade. Then it turns to Rupert Murdoch.
Journalist Julia Angwin writes about the rise of MySpace and the story behind Murdoch’s eventual acquisition of the site.
TechCrunch notes that MySpace wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea: “MySpace is quick to point out that they had no involvement in the book at all. All they’re officially saying is ‘This book received zero participation, zero access, and zero fact-checking from MySpace.’ It’s clear from the tone of the book that Angwin’s sources are primarily or solely people who’ve left the company, many of whom have a bone to pick with MySpace or parent company News Corp.”
No claims (that we’ve heard) yet that the stories have been fabricated.
On publisher Random House’s Web site:
“Stealing MySpace introduces us to the site’s founders, Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, who dabbled in computer hacking, online pornography, spam, and spyware before starting MySpace. Although their street savvy, doggedness, and clubbing skills far eclipsed their tech prowess, they stumbled their way to success and soon found themselves at ground zero of a high-stakes war that pitted Rupert Murdoch against his frequent nemesis, the combative Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone.”
See TechCrunch.
Visit the Random House site.
