{"product_id":"book-czol","title":"The Players Ball","description":"\u003cb\u003e“An engrossing microcosm of the internet\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e’s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Wild West years” (\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e), award-winning journalist David Kushner tells the incredible battle between the founder of Match.com and the con man who swindled him out of the website Sex.com, resulting in an all-out war for control for what still powers the internet today: love and sex.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1994, visionary entrepreneur Gary Kremen used a $2,500 loan to create the first online dating service, Match.com. Only five percent of Americans were using the internet at the time, and even fewer were looking online for love. He quickly bought the Sex.com domain too, betting the combination of love and sex would help propel the internet into the mainstream.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eImagine Kremen’s surprise when he learned that someone named Stephen Michael Cohen had stolen the rights to Sex.com and was already making millions that Kremen would never see. Thus follows the wild true story of Kremen’s and Cohen’s decade-long battle for control. In \u003ci\u003eThe Players Ball\u003c\/i\u003e, author and journalist David Kushner provides a front seat to these must-read Wild West years online, when innovators and outlaws battled for power and money.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis cat-and-mouse game between a genius and a con man changed the way people connect forever, and is key to understanding the rise and future of the online world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Kushner delivers a fast-paced, raunchy tale of sex, drugs, and dial-up.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49347156672816,"sku":"BDczol","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD [10]","offer_id":49347156705584,"sku":"10czol","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/czol-Square-cover.jpg?v=1771661051","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-czol","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}