Book Buzz

Steal This Computer Book
by Wallace Wang; No Starch Press, 1998
Reviewed by Edward Piou, 9/28/98

In 1971, Abbie Hoffman wrote Steal This Book, an attitude-laden tome meant to show malcontent citizens of "Amerika" how to survive with little or no money, maximize personal freedom, and strike back at the system—"not to fuck the system, but to destroy it." It was uncompromising and unapologetic, and full of clever tips on wreaking havoc.

Given the content of the book from which it appropriates its title, you might expect Wallace Wang's Steal This Computer Book to be a step-by-step guide to wresting control of the Internet from "the system," whether you define the system as transnational corporations, the U.S. government, or the media. Reading the back cover should quickly disabuse you of this notion. The back cover portrays hackers (more appropriately called "crackers"), and to a lesser extent con artists, as the big danger on the Internet, and says this book will show you how to protect yourself from them. In his introduction, on the other hand, Wang says he is hoping to foment a "personal revolution" in each of his readers, which he hopes will ripple outwards and cause revolutions in the people they know, which will eventually change the world. But despite his stated desire for change, he says he's not advocating the overthrow of the government or even any radical change in it.

This is a book hunting for an audience and a purpose. In the course of the hunt, it is both useful and annoying.

Steal This Computer Book is useful as a "how to" book. It tells you how to find good, cheap hardware and software. It tells you how to hide your identity and shield your privacy. It tells you how to find information on building devices to cheat the phone company out of long-distance charges. It tells you how to protect your computer from viruses, and find information on writing your own viruses. It tells you why multi-level marketing schemes tend not to work, and gives you a few suggestions on how to avenge yourself against spammers. If it stuck with the "how to," it could satisfy an audience of people who just want to know how things work—whether they want to know so they can defend themselves, or attack others, or satisfy their curiosity.

Steal This Computer Book is annoying when it tries to pass itself off as a book that will turn its readers into free-thinkers who are "more dangerous than all the weapons in the world." The author says he wants to present objective information on the "underground" of the computer revolution, and so makes various statements along the lines of (1) depending on your cause and what web site you break into and deface, you may be called a terrorist or a hero; and (2) if you log into AOL and use programs the service has banned—for example, AOHell—to stalk and harass people you suspect to be pedophiles, you may be a hero. Both of which are true and objective statements, if for no other reason than that they essentially say "If you do X, then you may be [called] Y." But these are issues which deserve a lot more thought and exploration than they are given in this book.

If he's not going to present some serious arguments for and against any of the behavior he describes, Mr. Wang should just present the truly neutral information (the "how-to" stuff) rather than toss in a paragraph of social commentary here and there in an attempt to convince the reader that that neutral information is worth knowing.

I expect readers to buy this book for one of two reasons: to find out how to do neat things, or to feel like part of the computer "underground" (while still living comfortably in the system that Abbie Hoffman's underground tried to destroy). If you're looking for a "how to" and can forgive Mr. Wang for trying to make his readers feel dangerous and hip, buy the book. If you're looking for a "how to be dangerous" then do as the title says—steal the book off a bookshelf. Or use a fake credit card number to buy it (skimming Chapter 8 can help with this). Abbie would be proud. And maybe Wallace would be, too.

Have you read this book?