The Sex.Com Chronicles: A White-Hat Lawyer's Journey to the Dark Side of the Internet [Paperback]

Charles Carreon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 16, 2008

The Sex.Com Chronicles captures the dizzying atmosphere of exploding wealth and mad ambition that fueled the growth of the early Internet in its Wild-West phase. Written by the trial lawyer who won the historic case to recover the world's most valuable Internet domain name, Charles Carreon's crisp narrative begins from the personal perspective of a lone trial lawyer challenged to take on the case of a lifetime, introduces the larger-than-life characters who will drive the action, then accelerates through a series of gripping chapters that hold the reader in thrall until the last page is turned. Fast, funny, and reckless, Carreon artfully depicts a running gun-battle on the information highway and delivers an unforgettable climax that will leave the reader reeling.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439201013
• ISBN-13: 978-1439201015
• Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 8.9 x 5.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,330,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Carreon was born in Phoenix, Arizona during the Cold War. The legend of Billy the Kid and B. Traven's novel, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" featured prominently in the formation of his psyche. In his freshman year at Arizona State University, he met his sweetheart Tara, and a year later they married and began traveling. They spent the better part of a year traveling through Europe, the Middle East and India, then moved up to Ashland, Oregon, had three kids, Joshua, Maria, and Ana, and lived in the woods for six years. Poverty worked its magic, and in 1983, they all moved to Los Angeles, where Charles got a law degree at UCLA and spent six years in the fast-paced world of LA law. In 1993 he did another about face and moved back to Oregon where he became a small-town prosecutor, then flipped again and became a criminal defense lawyer. In 1999, he met Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com and original owner of the Sex.Com domain, and morphed into one of the more colorful intellectual property lawyers of the early Internet era. He now lives in Tucson, Arizona with Tara.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 115 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title June 14, 2012

By K

Format:Paperback

I bought this book a while ago because honestly, I used to admire the author. His First Amendment advocacy credentials were solid, though nothing special compared to others in the field, and I thought the sex.com litigation was really interesting considering the sort of nebulous status a domain name has a property, especially in relationship to trademark law.

It was an interesting read, mostly for the subject matter. The writing itself wasn't spectacular--it's well edited, so you no glaring grammar or spelling errors like you'd see from bad fan fiction, but the organization and style don't really add much to make the material exciting.

Now I sincerely regret putting a few bucks in the author's pocket. Though he styles himself as a so-called "white hat," if you look at the public records on his most recent, prominent case, he's basically defending a copyright infringer by filing frivolous defamation lawsuits against the guy whose work was stolen because he had the audacity to publicly complain about his work being stolen. I would not be surprised if the California bar decides to bring sanctions against him for filing motions with no basis in fact or law.

I would never recommend that anyone steal someone else's copyrighted work, but if someone did pirate Carreon's work, and then sued him for complaining about it, I imagine the irony would be lost on him.

Moreover, Carreon's later dishonesty and lack of integrity makes me question how honest the contents of this book really was. We know from the public record who won, what evidence and arguments were presented, and what side the court came down on, but I no longer know whether to believe Carreon's version of events leading up to the case. He alleges that his client had the domain name and it was "stolen" from him through fraud, but now I wonder whether this was just a greedy domain name squatter who let a registration lapse, and then recruited a sleazy lawyer to trick a court into stealing sex.com back once he realized how valuable it was.

72 of 75 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very interesting June 13, 2012

By Rebecca Viands

Format:Paperback

I read this book recently after reading about the case on Mr. Carrion's website. I was intrigued. I was able to get about a third of the way through before becoming utterly uninterested. The prose is very pedantic and the author seems pretensious. I would not recommend this book.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars No. Just, no. June 18, 2012

By Sennheister

Format:Paperback

Curiosity brought me to the book, and like the kitty before me, killed my curiosity into the "realm" of the serious business that is the internets. My best advice to anyone wanting a chance to open the wardrobe doors and enter the Narnia that is Charles Carreon, go to your local used bookstore and find a copy (I'm certain there is a plethora of them there) and see what hard earned cash I may have just saved you.

You'll thank me silently at night.