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The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It

by Jonathan Zittrain

The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It Cover

ISBN13: 9780300124873
ISBN10: 0300124872
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

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Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"The story of the end-to-end Internet and its discontents has been told before, but never with such insight and never from such a comprehensive technical, legal, policy and social perspective as in Jonathan Zittrain's The Future of the Internet — And How to Stop It. Zittrain, who recently moved from the Oxford Internet Institute to Harvard Law School, is renowned in Internet policy circles as the most tech-savvy of today's young cyber-legal minds. This book is certain to cement that reputation." Hal Abelson, American Scientist (read the entire American Scientist review)

"Zittrain tells us that whatever the Internet's glorious adolescence, its middle age will be sharply shaped by the problem of computer security. 'Today's viruses and spyware,' he writes, 'are not merely annoyances to be ignored.' Zittrain has a graph showing the number of security incidents over the last decade, and it resembles the Dow Jones average over the 1990s. He predicts a coming crisis, grave measures, and, as 'security problems worsen and fear spreads,' broad acceptance of 'some form of lockdown.'" Tim Wu, The New Republic (read the entire New Republic review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

North Korean radios that are altered to receive only the official stations. Cars that listen in on their owners' conversations. Digital video recorders ordered to self-destruct in viewers' homes thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. Jonathan Zittrain's extraordinary book pieces together the engine that has catapulted the Internet ecosystem into the prominence it has today — and explains that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of consumers, the Internet is on a path to a lockdown, a closing off of opportunities and innovation.

Zittrain explains that the Internet and much of what is built on top of it is "generative" — it welcomes change from anyone, anywhere. The benefits of generativity are innovative output (new things that improve people's lives), and participatory input (the opportunity to connect with other people, work with them, and express oneself). But security issues online, like viruses, spyware, and invasions of privacy, will see this generative infrastructure replaced by fashionable tethered appliances, — including iPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos. These devices are not generative — they can't be modified easily by users, even as they are continuously regulated and controlled by their makers. Zittrain offers an accessible discussion of the looming problems of an "appliancized" future and provides a set of visionary solutions to help stop it.

Review:

"This remarkably researched and highly entertaining book is a must-read for all who take the ubiquitous nature of the Internet in our everyday lives for granted. The future of the internet is NOT a positive one, unless we all work collaboratively to ensure its lasting success. Zittrain's analysis is first-class and should be widely heeded by leaders from all sectors of society." Dr. Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum

Review:

"This book is fundamental. It will define the debate about the future of the Internet, long after we havent stopped it. Absolutely required reading." Lawrence Lessig, Professor, Stanford Law School, and author of Free Culture and The Future of Ideas

Review:

"The most compelling book ever written on why a transformative technology's trajectory threatens to stifle that technology's greatest promise for society. Zittrain offers convincing road maps for redeeming that promise." Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School

Review:

"[A] passionate and intelligent book, of interest to students and scholars of cyber law and Internet/society issues." Library Journal

Synopsis:

North Korean radios that are altered to receive only the official stations. Cars that listen in on their owners' conversations. Digital video recorders ordered to self-destruct in viewers' homes thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. Jonathan Zittrain's extraordinary book pieces together the engine that has catapulted the Internet ecosystem into the prominence it has today — and explains that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of consumers, the Internet is on a path to a lockdown, a closing off of opportunities and innovation.

Synopsis:

This extraordinary book explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquityand reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of its users, the generative Internet is on a path to a lockdown, ending its cycle of innovationand facilitating unsettling new kinds of control.

 

IPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos represent the first wave of Internet-centered products that cant be easily modified by anyone except their vendors or selected partners. These “tethered appliances” have already been used in remarkable but little-known ways: car GPS systems have been reconfigured at the demand of law enforcement to eavesdrop on the occupants at all times, and digital video recorders have been ordered to self-destruct thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. New Web 2.0 platforms like Google mash-ups and Facebook are rightly toutedbut their applications can be similarly monitored and eliminated from a central source. As tethered appliances and applications eclipse the PC, the very nature of the Internetits “generativity,” or innovative characteris at risk.

 

The Internets current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Its salvation, Zittrain argues, lies in the hands of its millions of users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, this book shows how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, participate in solutions, and become true “netizens.”

About the Author

Jonathan L. Zittrain is the Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University and co-founder of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. He lives in Oxford, UK, and Cambridge, MA.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780300124873
Author:
Zittrain, Jonathan
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Subject:
General Computers
Subject:
Science & Technology
Subject:
Internet - General
Subject:
Media & the Law
Subject:
Social aspects
Subject:
Security measures
Subject:
Social Aspects - General
Subject:
Internet
Subject:
Internet - Security measures
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade Cloth
Publication Date:
April 2008
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
342
Dimensions:
9.34x6.46x1.11 in. 1.43 lbs.

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