Invasion of Privacy! Big Brother and the Company Hackers

Michael J. Weber

Copyright 2004 by Michael J. Weber.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

The Premier Press logo and related trade dress are trademarks of Premier Press and may not be used without written permission.

General acknowledgment is made to the following for quoted material:

"Hairstyles and Attitudes" from Greetings from Timbuk 3 ” IRS. Copyright 1984 by Pat MacDonald.

"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing": Artists: The New Seekers 1971 “72; Words and Music by Roquel Davis, Roger John, Reginald Greenaway, Roger F. Cook, and William M. Backer.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners .

Premier Press and the author have attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer.

Information contained in this book has been obtained by Premier Press from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Premier Press, or others, the Publisher does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from use of such information. Readers should be particularly aware of the fact that the Internet is an ever-changing entity. Some facts may have changed since this book went to press.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003101214

Printed in the United States of America

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Dedicated to Dwain, Steve Kirsch, Jason Eric Smith, and countless others like them, who used technology to turn the tables on the technology that victimized them.

Acknowledgments

This book is a collaborative effort. I want to thank Stacy Hiquet (publisher), Sandy Doell (editor), Berislav Kucan and Mirko Zorz (tech editors), and Cathleen Snyder (copy editor) for their assistance and support.

Special thanks to George Kurtz, Steve Kirsch, Jason Eric Smith, Steve Gibson, A. Michael Froomkin, Ron Kessler, Sean "Jinx" Gailey, Epiphany, and Jeff Moss, for their cooperation and contributions.

About the Author

Michael J. Weber's career began on Madison Avenue where he produced hundreds of TV commercials, including several award winners, for top sponsors and ad agencies. He eventually landed in Hollywood and started writing screenplays. Weber has since written over a dozen scripts and episodic series for major film studios .

Invasion of Privacy is the second book written by Michael J. Weber in three years . His first, Confessions of an Internet Auction Junkie , was published by Prima in October 2000.

Dr. Timothy Leary introduced Weber to computing in 1979. A couple of years later he began budgeting TV commercials on the first IBM PC and an Apple 2. Weber has been a computer fanatic ever since!

Weber enjoys fun in the sun and lives in Los Angeles, California, and Palm Beach, Florida, with his Lhasa Apso Buddy.