The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It

Abstract:     
This book explores the past, present, and future of the Internet. It explains why some crucial, commonplace ingredients of the Net such as the generic, reprogrammable PC are likely soon to be replaced, not just complemented, by a new range of information appliances and corresponding Web 2.0 platforms that create new gatekeepers and new opportunities for regulation. It says that this future is, on balance, undesirable, even as the market is bringing it about, and it makes recommendations about how to avoid this future.

The electronic version of the book is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 license. It is otherwise published by Yale University Press and Penguin UK.

Keywords: Future, Internet, Cyberlaw, Generative, Tethered, Appliances, Steril, Google, Facebook, Apple, Iphone

JEL Classifications: A13, D70, D78, D91, I21, I28, K2, K42, L22, O3

Accepted Paper Series