Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A provocative analysis of net neutrality and a call to democratize online communication
This short book is both a primer that explains the history and politics of net neutrality and an argument for a more equitable framework for regulating the internet. Pickard and Berman argue that we should see access to the internet no longer as a commodity but as a public good necessary for sustaining democratic society in the twenty-first century.
They aim to reframe the threat to net neutrality as more than a Manichean conflict between content providers like Netflix and internet service providers like Comcast but as part of the much wider project to commercialize the public sphere and undermine the free speech essential for democracy. Readers will come away with a better understanding of the key concepts underpinning the net neutrality battle and rallying points for future action to democratize online communication.