Parasuits

Maybe it's always been this way. Maybe there have always been people whose sole function is to siphon resources away from their proper use.

But along with the information economy there is developing a new species, that appears to have DNA sliced from the rat, the weasel, and the leech. They infest the seamy underworld of our electronic ecosystem, finding ways to gain advantage by playing the system.

I'm referring to those folks engaged in:

• Search engine optimization
• Targeted email marketing (spam, by any other name)
  
• The spyware biz
• Creation of web pages to plagiarize content
• Selling or employing popup, flash, and other annoying ads
• Astroturfing and 'guerrilla marketing'
  
• Any other deceptive online marketing

They ruin my ability to find what I want online, they choke my email inbox with their filth and useless hype, try to use my computer against my will, and try to trick me into buying things I don't want.

They have no other skill than the art of deception, using resources that aren't theirs to make money they don't deserve. They are empty-suited parasites, "parasuits".

And there's a special corner of Hades reserved for just for them.