| Subject: Fwd: ANONYMOUS: Tales from Inside the Accidental Cyberwar |
| From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> |
| Date: 9/16/11, 17:42 |
| To: Karen Lancaster <lancaster.karen@gmail.com> |
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Hi Dan,
I just spoke with Stephen but I thought I should drop you a line as well. Were unfortunately going to have to bow out of our meeting on Monday. Enough readers here had negative reactions to the proposal that the vote for approving an offer isnt going to go my way. People appreciated the wildness of the proposal and its importance, but people worried that the story was moving too quickly to be pinned down in a book. There was also some concern about competition (cf. Cole Stryker, whose book hasnt worked particularly well for Overlook). Weve also got something under contract that covers some of the stories here. Lastly, and forgive our conservatism, we were a little afraid of Anonymous. Were a big company, but not that big. DDOS attacks on us would do a lot more damage to us than it might to a larger publisher. With those kinds of objections arrayed against me, I was never going to get this through. Im very sorry, as ever, to disappoint.
Good luck with this one.
Cheers,
Tom
From: Daniel Conaway [mailto:dconaway@WritersHouse.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 1:48 PM
To: Mayer, Tom
Subject: ANONYMOUS: Tales from Inside the Accidental Cyberwar
Importance: High
Dear Tom,
Here, as discussed, is the proposal for an absolutely fascinating behind-the-curtain glimpse at the notoriousand apparently fearlesshacktivist collective known as Anonymous. The targets for Anonymouss particular brand of outlaw activismall part of their global campaign against injustices and abuses in the realm of freedom of speech and freedom of informationhave included (so far) foreign governments (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia), major corporations (Sony, Visa, MasterCard), sanctimonious religious organizations (the Church of Scientology, the Westboro Baptist Church) and powerful governmental agencies (FBI, CIA, NATO). Nobody, apparently, is off-limits.
As Kevin Mitnicks current New York Times bestseller Ghost in the Wires has demonstrated, there is a real fascination out there with the culture of hacking and the internet. Gregg Housh and Barrett Brown, the authors of ANONYMOUS: Tales from Inside the Accidental Cyberwarand the two most visible public figures known to be associated with Anonymous (both of whom have provided invaluable access & insight regarding the modus operandi of Anonymous to reporters hungry to make sense of it)take Mitnick one step further, showing how that culture can be harnessed as an engine for social change. Even when (as is often the case for Anons) the engine for social change rhetoric is really just a terrific excuse to indulge in some weaponized chaos
And therein lies the magnificent contradiction of this culture. Patriotic vigilantism? Animal House pranksterism? Both? Whatever the alchemic mix is, its a wild and fascinating ride, laid bare here for the first time.
Call me when youve read this, OK?
Dan
Dan Conaway
Literary Agent
Writers House