Follow-up to "Steal This Computer Book" Offers Comprehensive Look Inside Online File Swapping Networks

October 5, 2004, San Francisco--Author Wallace Wang is at it again with a new title dedicated to the controversial world of online file sharing. "Steal This File Sharing Book: What They Won't Tell You About File Sharing" goes beyond the misconceptions and melodrama to examine how popular services such as Kazaa, Morpheus and UseNet work, and uncovers the dangers that can befall fans of file-swapping, such as viruses, spyware and even lawsuits. Wang's book looks at both well-known and obscure methods of file sharing, and demonstrates that they're about much more than downloading pirated music. Wang's previous work, "Steal This Computer Book: What They Won't Tell You About The Internet," now in its third edition, received enthusiastic reviews for its non-technical look at the world of hackers and is one of No Starch Press's most successful titles to date.

File sharing networks have grown in sophistication since the early free-for-all days of Napster. In addition to covering how people use file sharing networks to swap everything from music and video files to books and pornography, "Steal This File Sharing Book" (No Starch Press, October '04) reveals how people use them to share secrets and censored information banned by their governments. It also investigates the ongoing battle between the software, video and music pirates and the industries that are trying to stop them.

Writing in the same easily digestible tone that made "Steal This Computer Book" accessible to tech-savvy geeks and casual users alike, Wang's new book speaks to the broad file sharing audience in plain language. "I wanted to explain how these networks function and provide a historical context for each file sharing method, so readers will understand their origins and how they evolved into one of the Internet's most popular activities," said Wang. He also presents a balanced view of the copyright issues raised by file sharing. "The media has covered the scandalous side of file sharing," he said. "I thought it was important to address the legalities from both sides of the debate."

Among the book's other highlights are chapters on:

* Methods of using IRC and newsgroups to share files

* "Miscellaneous thievery," such as illicit trading of embroidery patterns

* How corporations are fighting back with lawsuits, "educational

campaigns," and bogus files designed to poison a file sharing network

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Best-selling computer book author Wallace Wang is a former contributor to Boardwatch Magazine, where he wrote a monthly column called "Notes From the Underground." He is also a successful stand-up comic who has appeared on A&E's "Evening at the Improv"and appears regularly at the Riviera Comedy Club in Las Vegas. Wang is also the author of the "Steal This Computer Book" and "The Book of Nero 6 Ultra Edition."

Steal This File Sharing Book: What They Won't Tell You About File Sharing by Wallace Wang - October 2004, 296 pp., $19.95, ISBN 1-59327-050-X