Synopses & Reviews
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.”
Review
'\"At last a book that confronts the politics and economics of the Internet in a fundamental way, moving beyond the surface of policy debate to reveal the basic structure of the challenges we confront.\"Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University
-- James S. Ackerman - Annali di Architettura'
Review
'“A magnificent achievement. Yochai Benkler shows us how the Internet enables new commons-based methods for producing goods, remaking culture, and participating in public life.
The Wealth of Networks is an indispensable guide to the political economy of our digitally networked world.”Jack M. Balkin, Professor of Law and Director of the Information Society Project, Yale University
-- Bruce Ackerman'
Review
'“In this book, Benkler establishes himself as the leading intellectual of the information age. Profoundly rich in its insight and truth, this work will be the central text for understanding how networks have changed how we understand the world. No work to date has more carefully or convincingly made the case for a fundamental change in how we understand the economy of society.”Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
-- Jack M. Balkin'
Review
'\"A lucid, powerful, and optimistic account of a revolution in the making.\"Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of
The Anarchist in the Library -- Lawrence Lessig'
Review
'\"This deeply researched book documents the fundamental changes in the ways in which we produce and share ideas, information, and entertainment. Then, drawing widely on the literatures of philosophy, economics, and political theory, it shows why these changes should be welcomed, not resisted. The trends examined, if allowed to continue, will radically alter our livesand no other scholar describes them so clearly or champions them more effectively than Benkler.\"William W. Fisher III, Hale and Dorr Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Harvard University, Director, Berkman Center for Internet and Society
-- Siva Vaidhyanathan'
Review
“A timely, vivid, and illuminating book that will change the way you think about privacy, reputation, and speech on the Internet. Daniel Solove tells a series of fascinating and frightening stories about how blogs, social network sites, and other websites are spreading gossip and rumors about peoples private lives. He offers a fresh and thought-provoking analysis of a series of wide-ranging new problems and develops useful suggestions about what we can do about these challenges.”Paul M. Schwartz, professor of law, University of California Berkeley School of Law
-- Lawrence Weschler
Review
“No one has thought more about the effects of the information age on privacy than Daniel Solove.”Bruce Schneier, author of
Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World -- Paul M. Schw
Review
“As the Internet is erasing the distinction between spoken and written gossip, the future of personal reputation is one of our most vexing social challenges. In this illuminating book, filled with memorable cautionary tales, Daniel Solove incisively analyzes the technological and legal challenges and offers moderate, sensible solutions for navigating the shoals of the blogosphere.”Jeffrey Rosen, author of
The Unwanted Gaze and
The Naked Crowd -- Bruce Schneier
Review
"Much of The Future of Reputation catalogs the ways in which privacy has diminished in an age in which technology allows for the diffusion of information and in which punishments for this diffusion are weak or sometimes simply impratical."Gary Alan Fine, Wilson Quarterly -- Jeffrey Rosen
Review
"[A] brilliant recent book. . . . An honest and troubling account of the ways that we have become our own enemies."Siva Vaidyanathan,
The Chronicle of Higher Education
-- Gary Alan Fine - Wilson Quarterly
Review
"Beneath Soloves legal suggestions rests a keen insight about the extent to which the Internet changes basic questions about privacy."Mark Williams,
MITs Technology Review -- Siva Vaidyanathan - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Review
"Timely and provocative, The Future of Reputation explores a principal dilemma of our age and provides a workable solution that may appeal to readers on both sides of the debate."Harvard Law Review -- MIT's Technology Review - Mark Williams
Review
"Solove offers practical advice on how societal norms and laws can catch up with technologys relentless progress. . . . [A] funny and readable call for netizens and legal scholars to accept a more nuanced understanding of privacy."Bennett Gordon, Utne Reader -- Harvard Law Review
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 -- Northwest Science
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. Zittrains 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
-- Lawrence Lessig
Review
“The most compelling book ever written on why a transformative technologys trajectory threatens to stifle that technologys 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
-- Dr. Klaus Schwab
Review
“Jonathan Zittrain does what no one has beforehe eloquently and subtly pinpoints the magic that makes Wikipedia, and the Internet as a whole, work. The best way to save the Internet is to turn off your laptop until youve read this book.”Jimbo Wales, Founder, Wikipedia
-- Laurence H. Tribe
Review
“A superb and alarming discussion, from one of the most astute and forward-looking analysts of the Internet. Zittrain explains how the glorious promise of the Internet might not be realizedand points the way toward reducing the current risks. Absolutely essential reading."Cass Sunstein, Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence, The University of Chicago Law School, and co-author of
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness -- Jimbo Wales
Review
"A useful starting point to understanding the -- Cass Sunstein
Review
"The Future of the Internet identifies and analyzes many of the key issues, obstacles, and tradeoffs that will define our future."Science -- Richard Waters - Los Angeles Times
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"In the web counterrevolution that Jonathan Zittrain foresees, users will lose the ability to control content, companies will gain the power to censor data, and security will trump innovation. Its a gloomy scenario that his new book Future of the Internet, says is already underway."Katie Baker, Newsweek -- Science
Review
"The thrust of Zittrains book is that the shift back toward sterile technology cannot be entirely avoided, though the dangers can be mitigated. . . . Ignore Zittrains warnings and we may prove his forecast right."Paul Starr, The American Prospect -- Katie Baker - Newsweek
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"This book is a must-read for any student of technology and policy, and its prescriptions are a must-do for the future of innovation in the digital age."Hal Abelson, American Scientist -- Paul Starr - The American Prospect
Review
Won the 2013 AoIR book award given by the Association of Internet Researchers.
Review
Shortlisted for the 2013 Surveillance and Society Journal Book Prize.
Synopsis
With the radical changes in information production that the Internet has introduced, we stand at an important moment of transition, says Yochai Benkler in this thought-provoking book. The phenomenon he describes as social production is reshaping markets, while at the same time offering new opportunities to enhance individual freedom, cultural diversity, political discourse, and justice. But these results are by no means inevitable: a systematic campaign to protect the entrenched industrial information economy of the last century threatens the promise of todays emerging networked information environment.
In this comprehensive social theory of the Internet and the networked information economy, Benkler describes how patterns of information, knowledge, and cultural production are changingand shows that the way information and knowledge are made available can either limit or enlarge the ways people can create and express themselves. He describes the range of legal and policy choices that confront us and maintains that there is much to be gainedor lostby the decisions we make today.
Synopsis
Teeming with chatrooms, online discussion groups, and blogs, the Internet offers previously unimagined opportunities for personal expression and communication. But theres a dark side to the story. A trail of information fragments about us is forever preserved on the Internet, instantly available in a Google search. A permanent chronicle of our private livesoften of dubious reliability and sometimes totally falsewill follow us wherever we go, accessible to friends, strangers, dates, employers, neighbors, relatives, and anyone else who cares to look. This engrossing book, brimming with amazing examples of gossip, slander, and rumor on the Internet, explores the profound implications of the online collision between free speech and privacy.
Daniel Solove, an authority on information privacy law, offers a fascinating account of how the Internet is transforming gossip, the way we shame others, and our ability to protect our own reputations. Focusing on blogs, Internet communities, cybermobs, and other current trends, he shows that, ironically, the unconstrained flow of information on the Internet may impede opportunities for self-development and freedom. Long-standing notions of privacy need review, the author contends: unless we establish a balance between privacy and free speech, we may discover that the freedom of the Internet makes us less free.
Synopsis
The Internet is primed for a meltdownand the most obvious cures are just as bad
Synopsis
"If you've got nothing to hide," many people say, "you shouldn't worry about government surveillance." Others argue that we must sacrifice privacy for security. But as Daniel J. Solove argues in this important book, these arguments and many others are flawed. They are based on mistaken views about what it means to protect privacy and the costs and benefits of doing so. The debate between privacy and security has been framed incorrectly as a zero-sum game in which we are forced to choose between one value and the other. Why can't we have both?
In this concise and accessible book, Solove exposes the fallacies of many pro-security arguments that have skewed law and policy to favor security at the expense of privacy. Protecting privacy isn't fatal to security measures; it merely involves adequate oversight and regulation. Solove traces the history of the privacy-security debate from the Revolution to the present day. He explains how the law protects privacy and examines concerns with new technologies. He then points out the failings of our current system and offers specific remedies. Nothing to Hide makes a powerful and compelling case for reaching a better balance between privacy and security and reveals why doing so is essential to protect our freedom and democracy.
Synopsis
The legal and technical rules governing flows of information are out of balance, argues Julie E. Cohen in this original analysis of information law and policy. Flows of cultural and technical information are overly restricted, while flows of personal information often are not restricted at all. The author investigates the institutional forces shaping the emerging information society and the contradictions between those forces and the ways that people use information and information technologies in their everyday lives. She then proposes legal principles to ensure that people have ample room for cultural and material participation as well as greater control over the boundary conditions that govern flows of information to, from, and about them.
About the Author
Daniel J. Solove is associate professor, George Washington University Law School, and an internationally known expert in privacy law. He is frequently interviewed and featured in media broadcasts and articles, and he is the author of The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age. He lives in Washington, D.C., and blogs at the popular law blog http://www.concurringopinions.com.