Given the world's fascination with celebrity, the case of Abraham Abdallah who allegedly defrauded Steven Spielberg among others, has brought to light the massive amounts of information available online about well-known figures.
Of course, most of us have a more legitimate interest in celebrities. Stars connect us to a more glamorous, exciting world, providing intimacy and the pleasures of malicious gossip without any of the payback.
Sources range from the well-established to the brand-new. Who's Who exists online, but only as part of a subscription service for libraries and information specialists at www.knowuk.co.uk. The publisher, A&C Black, is planning an online subscription service open to the public in the near future but for now you must phone, visit your local library or buy a copy.
You can get a list of links by typing a celeb's name into the search box of any search engine but you will have to wade through tribute sites, home pages and reams of useless data to find any sort of information. Mostly, celebrity hunters head for the fan sites, such as www.actoractress.com or www.celebritypro.com, which contain well-designed data banks of performers, entertainers, sports personalities and politicians. Type in the name of your choice and you will be directed to a starsite with pictures, biographies, associated links and a contact address.
The address is usually that of a publicist or fan club, which can provide further information, photos, and autographs for the faithful or perspicacious. Signed celebrity photos can command high prices. Hardcore star hunters prefer verified lists of celebrity addresses contributed by other devotees at sites such as www.springrose.com/celebrity, where a surprising number of home addresses are listed, but no phone numbers. In the UK, obsessives can work their way through directories of PR companies and talent agencies (see www.excite.co.uk), pay $199 a volume to subscribe at the film Directory of Directories www.hollyvision.com, ring a premium rate "contact helpline" offered by Actor's Equity www.equity.org.uk, or input the names of wanted actors, actresses and presenters into the free search service offered by Spotlight.
For people like myself, hounded by deadlines and editors, there is something new. Richard Brecker of London-based Upfront Television, and his partner Claire Nye, have just created www.celebritiesworldwide.com, a business-to-business contact service.
For a £300 annual fee, plus a £3 buying fee for each name and set of contact numbers, subscribers get access to a superb data bank, containing most of the "names" any media moocher could desire to interview, with addresses, phone and fax numbers. Brecker says the information will be updated weekly because "celebrities change agents like most people change their underpants".
He has already signed up Warner Brothers, the Daily Mirror, The Red Cross, Louis Vuitton and other corporate clients and the company is currently raising £2m investment capital to take the site global. Alternatively, you could pay Upfront TV (which books celebrities for events such as the Brit Awards) between £2,000 and £30,000 to do the job for you.
Away from the expensive, professional end of the market are darker sites for celebrity obsessives. There's a "digital voodoo doll" at www.deadair2001.com, where you can nominate stars to die horribly in a plane crash.
Another cheerfully nasty site, www.cultureshark.com, has been attacked by many who see it as an incitement to stalkers. Already consigned to the great "404 website not available" graveyard are sites such as www.celebritystalkers.com , which offered to do your stalking for you, and NationalUnionforTormentingCelebritiesandStalking.com.
