“An engrossing microcosm of the internet’s Wild West years” (Kirkus Reviews), award-winning journalist David Kushner tells the incredible battle between the founder of Match.com and the con man who swindled him out of the website Sex.com, resulting in an all-out war for control for what still powers the internet today: love and sex.
In 1994, visionary entrepreneur Gary Kremen used a $2,500 loan to create the first online dating service, Match.com. Only five percent of Americans were using the internet at the time, and even fewer were looking online for love. He quickly bought the Sex.com domain too, betting the combination of love and sex would help propel the internet into the mainstream.
Imagine Kremen’s surprise when he learned that someone named Stephen Michael Cohen had stolen the rights to Sex.com and was already making millions that Kremen would never see. Thus follows the wild true story of Kremen’s and Cohen’s decade-long battle for control. In The Players Ball, author and journalist David Kushner provides a front seat to these must-read Wild West years online, when innovators and outlaws battled for power and money.
This cat-and-mouse game between a genius and a con man changed the way people connect forever, and is key to understanding the rise and future of the online world.
“Kushner delivers a fast-paced, raunchy tale of sex, drugs, and dial-up.” —Publishers Weekly
eBook - ePub
The Players Ball
A Genius, a Con Man, and the Secret History of the Internet's Rise
- 272 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- 1. The World Wild West
- 2. The Genius
- 3. The Con Man
- 4. Matched
- 5. Screwed
- 6. The Erotic Technological Impulse
- 7. The Art of War
- 8. Rancho
- 9. The Dogpatch
- 10. The Crazy Aunt in the Attic
- 11. The Players Ball
- 12. Come and Get It
- 13. Sex, Drugs, and âCamaronesâ
- 14. Happy Birthday
- 15. The Samurai
- 16. Across the Border
- Authorâs Note
- About the Author
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access The Players Ball by David Kushner in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Business & Science & Technology Biographies. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.