Trial By Fury: Internet Savagery and the Amanda Knox Case (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

Douglas Preston (Author)

Book Description

The Amanda Knox murder case generated one of the most savage outpourings of commentary the Internet has ever seen. There are countless statements calling for the murdering, raping, torturing, throat-cutting, frying, hanging, electrocution, burning, and rotting in hell of Amanda, along with her sisters, family, friends, and supporters.

Why?

Trial By Fury explores this dark netherworld, identifying the people involved, and investigating their motives. It documents the real-world damage caused by these anonymous bloggers, including how they managed to get a much decorated ex-FBI agent fired from his job. It also recounts the story of the Wikipedia entry about the case, which triggered a spectacular brawl among top wiki-editors, leading to outings, rants, bannings-for-life, and death threats, requiring the intervention of Jimmy Wales himself.

The author, Douglas Preston, is one of the foremost authorities on the Amanda Knox case. He lived in Italy for many years and is an expert on the Italian criminal justice system. He has spoken about the case on the Today show, Anderson Cooper, 48 Hours, Dateline NBC, and Fox. He is the coauthor with Mario Spezi of The Monster of Florence, a nonfiction account of Italy’s most notorious serial killer, currently being made into a movie starring George Clooney.

Product Details

• File Size: 158 KB
• Print Length: 23 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00CDU1H98
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Enabled
• Word Wise: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,855 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Cultural
  • #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle Nonfiction Singles > Society
  • #9 in Kindle Store > Kindle Nonfiction Singles > Essays & Ideas

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 111 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cowardice of Anonymity April 20, 2013

By Thomas Mininger

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Preston sounds the alarm that Internet hate communities, living in their alternate reality, cause bad things to happen in the real world and can't be ignored.

A lot of work has been done during the past few decades studying the psychology of hate. Preston's application of third-party punishment theory to explain online hate campaigns explains much of the phenomenon but I'm sure we have more to learn.

What Preston does superbly is explain how the Internet exacerbates mob psychology, providing anonymity to a multitude of accusers and "experts". The mob has always provided refuge for persecuting types where they can be just another face in the crowd. Now with the Internet they don't even have to be a face in the crowd, just a fake name with no accountability.

I implore you young readers to demand a culture where accusers and experts are not taken seriously unless they at least put their name and reputation on the line.

Preston closes with the apt line: "The Internet is a place where our darkest evolutionary biology runs riot."

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Trial By Fury: Internet Savagery and the Amanda Knox Case by Douglas Preston April 21, 2013

By By David &Tina Edwards

Format:Kindle Edition

This gave a inside view of the psychological ways humans behave. Before they know all the facts. And how we can be influenced by the media and Internet. Powerful way others can control what you think. All I can say is be a independent thinker and come to your own conclusion. Thankful for our American Justice system.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Writers and Birthers May 10, 2013

By P. R. Smyth

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Ten years from now the question of Amanda Knox's innocence or guilt will no longer seem interesting. It will be widely acknowledged that she is innocent. What will be talked about then is the emergence of internet hate groups which allowed anonymous trolls to attack innocent people like Knox and advocate for their persecution and punishment.

The pro-guilt faction, or "guilters" as they are commonly called are the intellectual first cousins to "birthers" and holocaust deniers. They know what they know. They believe their hate filled visions and are impervious to fact and reason. Since many of these people are cowards and remain anonymous it is impossible to know who exactly they are. But we can deduce certain things. They are not very bright or well educated. They don't have real jobs or careers. What they do have is a mighty hatred and way too much time on their hands. One suspects that the impotence they feel in real life is relieved somewhat by being the worst kind of bully anonymously.

One of the utterly repellent tactics these cowards excel at is that of attacking in the most vicious manner possible any person who publicly disagrees with them and who has the courage and decency to do so using their real names. They attack them both personally and professionally--that is they try to damage their livelihoods. They have gone after in the most reprehensible manner possible two journalists in Seattle, a former FBI agent in California, an engineer on the east coast, a retailer in Illinois, a university professor in the UK, and a high school teacher in California. In one case their action contributed to a Knox supporter losing his job.

They have also gone after Douglas Preston, of course, since he has been one of the most prominent public supporters of Amanda Knox--in no small part because he experienced first hand the manifest corruption of Italian justice. In this Kindle Single provides a wonderfully concise and telling analysis of the guilter phenomenon with an appalling description of their tactics and an attempt to explain anthropologically why this dreadful phenomenon occurs. By all means read this piece. Read it if you are interested in the Knox case and read it if you worry about the quality of justice in the Internet world. Read more ›

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting April 20, 2013

By M.A.

Format:Kindle Edition

This quick read was an interesting take on the "why" of Internet viciousness and obsession. The ideas Preston discusses (especially the concept of third-party punishment being a uniquely human trait) have piqued my interest. I look forward to doing more research.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting But Could Be Better With Both Sides April 24, 2013

By CristiAk

Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

This was an interesting book. It spoke of crime, punishment and society. It use to be shocking murder cases were reported in international, national and local newspapers. Some made it to rock the world and become high profile cases reported on with every legal move. Others died away to only local news. With the advent of the internet every case can easily become the high profile, international case. Not only are these cases now reported in the newspapers, hashed over on the tv and shown on channels such as Court TV but there are blogs devoted to them. Amanda Knox has fallen into this category of alleged murderers. Every bit of their trial is scrutinized on the internet. Every piece of evidence, real or rumored, is taken as fact. The person on trial now not only has a guilt or innocence trial in court but also on the internet and tv. The concept of innocent until proven guilty has, often times, turned into guilty unless proven innocent. I picked up this book because recent cases and their internet/tv draw has fascinated me. What makes someone passionately believe in someone's guilt or innocence without really knowing the evidence? What makes someone hate someone to the degree that Amanda Knox has received? Why would you start a blog for or against her innocence that resembles a fan club or hate club? Is this a new phenomenon or has it always been there just not as well known before the internet? Most of all is this useful or detrimental to society? This book delves into that and attempts to answer these questions. It is not a book that presents the evidence or rehashes the trial of Amanda Knox. If you are looking for that this is not your book. If you are interested in why society acts as it is in regards to Amanda Knox and whether or not it is useful to society than you may enjoy this book. I appreciated the book and the information the author gives. I feel though I cannot give it 5 stars though as the author takes a side. I would have preferred a neutral discussion in which the excessive feelings expressed in Pro Amanda Knox blogs were also explored with an eye to the role good or bad they play in society. It is worth reading though if you are interested in criminal justice or the psychology of the crowd mentality and its effect on crime as the side it does present is well written. Read more ›