The Dirty Little Secret About Spam

Fast Company, August, 2003 by Keith H. Hammonds

Andy Sernovitz has the bluster of a guy who knows he is right -- and the slightly desperate air that comes when not everyone agrees. He is a New Yorker, a smart and funny and profane guy who absolutely cannot resist a spotlight. He is not afraid to share his opinions, or to act on them. He is bursting with anger -- and with hope.

He is, in short, a professional crusader. At this moment, it just so happens that he has chosen a particularly gripping crusade. It is a cause that resonates in hundreds of millions of homes and office cubicles around the world -- and one whose resolution could be worth billions of dollars. That cause is unsolicited commercial bulk email. Andy Sernovitz wants to rid the Internet of spam.

This morning, Sernovitz has arrived for breakfast in...