Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World

by Tim Wu and Jack L. Goldsmith

Book Overview

Is the Internet erasing national borders? Will the future of the Net be set by Internet engineers, rogue programmers, the United Nations, or powerful countries? Who's really in control of what's happening on the Net?
In this provocative new book, Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu tell the fascinating story of the Internet's challenge to governmental rule in the 1990s, and the ensuing battles with governments around the world. It's a book about the fate...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195340647
• ISBN13: 9780195340648
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Who Controls the Internet

Despite what most people assume and many more wish the Internet has become regulated. The Internet is controled within a countries borders resulting in many conflicting laws. That's a problem for Internet companies who have assets across many borders. Can they get away with just following their countries laws? Time and time again the authors evince the answer being no. Companies like yahoo, google, mircrosoft, ebay, the Dow Jones, obsequiously follow foreign laws but not necessarily sacrifice their own. Some of these companies have no qualms either assisting the Chinese filter pro-democracy websites, in short because they feel they have to. As I right this Yahoo is being sued by the World Organization for Human Rights for giving the Chinese government I.P. addresses of Chinese citizens who will then jailed and tortured for subversion. Yahoo asserts they were simply following the law. And that is the problem facing these companies especially with China. They really have no other choice to or get out. The book was well writen, fair and balanced.

Understand the complexity of the Internet

Jack and Tim made one thing dramatically clear: The Internet is no lawless enclave in our world. Their journey from the very beginning to the modern Internet is full of clear examples and anecdotes describing the "rude awakening" of idealists and patient people who participated in the development of the globe-consuming web. When I read that the authors come from the dry plains of law science I was sceptical if the book would be worth to read. I imagined that their approach would be as dry as the 1000 ft law books in the libraries. But, when I opened it and started reading I first put it down after page 186, the very last page of the remarkable work. Their writing is so gripping, so light to read, that even a none-English person like me could easily understand and enjoy it. After working with the Internet since the beginnings of the 80's I thought I knew a lot about it and how it is screwed together, but I got surprised. Their view from a complete different angle, threw light on hidden aspects I honestly never thought about. In a modern world full of economical interests and its enforcement all makes absolute sense and even dramatic events like the Napster case fall into their logical place in this big puzzle. Every part of the book is filled with cross-references and hints to further readings. All cases and examples are deep researched and very neutral presented. Buy it, read it and give it to a dear one.

must read

This book is the best complete statement of the second wave of internet scholarship. If you ever thought that the net destroyed the significance of geography, or that cyberspace should be thought of as a real place, you owe it to yourself to see how things are really turning out.

Why the bordered Internet is necessary

"Who Controls the Internet?" by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu offers a clear-eyed assessment of the struggle to control the Internet. Starting with a discussion of the early vision of a borderless global community, the authors present some of the most prominent individuals, ideas and movements that have played key roles in developing the Internet as we know it today. As Law Professors at Harvard and Columbia, respectively, Mr. Goldsmith and Mr. Wu adroitly assert the important role of government in maintaining Internet law and order while skillfully debunking the claims of techno-utopianism that have been espoused by popular but misinformed theorists such as Thomas Friedman. The book has three sections. Part One is "The Internet Revolution". The authors discuss the early days of the Internet through the 1990s, when Julian Dibbell and John Perry Barlow articulated a libertarian vision that gained wide currency in the public imagination. The Electronic Frontier Foundation worked to protect the Internet from regulation in the belief that a free online community might unite people and melt government away. However, Jon Postel's attempt to assert control over the root naming and numbering system in 1998 was short-lived, as the U.S. government flexed its power in order to protect its national defense and business interests. Part Two is "Government Strikes Back". Users in different places with widely varying cultures and preferences want information presented in their local language and context, the authors explain. Governments use a number of techniques to pressure or control local intermediaries to restrict Internet content that a majority of its citizens find unacceptable, such as the sale of Nazi paraphenelia in France. Of course, bad government begets bad policy: the authors tell us how China uses its powers of censorship to block dissent and publishes propaganda that cultivates a virulent form of nationalism. Yet, the authors illustrate how good government can work by showing how the contest in the U.S. between the RIAA and Kazaa ultimately enabled Apple's iTunes to emerge as a legally acceptable service that balances copyright laws and the public's preference for using the Internet to source and download music. Part Three is "Vice, Virtues, the Future". The authors present an interesting case study about eBay and its founder's idealistic faith in the inherent goodness of the Internet community; we learn that when the company found its business model severely challenged by fraud, a resolution to the crisis was made workable with the assistance of local law enforcement. According to the authors, eBay, the case of an Australian libel lawsuit against a U.S. publisher, and Microsoft's acquiesence to European Union (EU) regulation of its Passport service are examples of how the bordered Internet seeks to protect citizens from harm. They argue convincingly that as a communications medium, the Internet is not unlike other technologies that have come bef

This book is great.

Lately, news about music piracy, on-line privacy, e-commerce, China's Internet censorship, Yahoo, Google, etc. is everywhere and, given that we spend so much time on the Internet downloading music, web-stalking people, buying stuff and working, we should be really grateful (I know I am) that, without having to read all that news, we can become better informed about these issues and Internet regulation by just reading Who Controls the Internet? Goldsmith and Wu have done us a huge favor by sifting through a lot of information about these complicated topics and breaking it down without dumbing it down. This book is interesting, accessible and engaging enough to read cover to cover in one sitting. It's not esoteric theory and bears no resemblance to a boring law review article. These professors don't wax poetic about whether or not one can control this wacky metaphysical world called the "Internet". The current debates about the Internet seem to focus on who gets to control the Internet and, more importantly, our interactions on the Internet and how to exercise such control. Through good writing, thorough research and well-developed ideas, Goldsmith and Wu explain the history behind these debates, where they stand today and how they should be resolved. Their book is great and couldn't be any timelier. ...and, oh yeah, keeping in mind that these guys are law professors, you just gotta love the little shout out to Wu-Tang Clan. Somewhere out there, even ODB is smiling down on this book.