Book Review

Book Review: Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World.

In this age of technological advancements and connectivity through the internet it is important to develop an understanding of the mechanism you are engaging within. It seems that most of us take the internet for granted and we log on without regard to the layers behind it all. We click away and research, surf, shop, socialize, and get entertained with out much of a clue to what it has taken to make available the platform with which we do all of these activities. Much less the tools that control and maintain these connections in the manner in which we use them. At least I haven’t up to this point, but after reading, Who Controls the internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World, written by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu, published by Oxford University Press in 2006, a new perspective of the internet has appeared and made more sense of the virtual dynamics that we participate in.

The purpose of this book seems be to capture the evolution of the internet and who has authority in it. Within that framework the authors propose three main stages of how the internet operates and who has authority over its functions, specifically on a global scale. These three sections of the book highlight various events that have occurred that have led to significant changes in different mechanisms that involve internet use and control. We start to understand the main thesis in the introduction with the events between Yahoo and the French government. A legal fight ensued over the French government’s request for Yahoo to remove web pages selling Nazi related items. The author’s use this example to introduce the reader to some of their preceding points, “ The Yahoo story encapsulates the Internet’s transformation from a technology that resists territorial law to one that facilitates its enforcement,” (Goldsmith & Wu, 2006, pp. 10). The three main sections of the book break down the main point of the Yahoo case with more relevant examples, and explore the different technologies developed from these events that impact the governance of the internet in its modern forms.

Section one of the book covers much of the origins and key people whose ideas founded the different scopes of internet use and control. This section really deals with who actually has authority over the internet. The cases here deal with key figures such as Jon Postel and John Perry Barlow and their actions in dealing with the U.S Government over controlling the internet . What is important to note in this section is the contributions of Julian Dibbell in which he wrote a book, A Rape in Cyberspace, that raises the idea of the internet as a “place,” (pp. 16) and , “Dibbell’s parable was also the beginning of a constructive vision of governance liberated from physical and national identity…,” (pp. 16). We really get a clear perspective of how the internet originated and the struggles to control it.

Section two of the book covers the role of the U.S Government after it had taken authority over the internet. Here the authors really begin to unearth real world examples from the 1990’s that paved the way policy has been developed to govern the internet. This section explores the internet on an international scale, how geography, governments, and law affect the way services and goods are delivered respectively across physical borders (pp. 179). In short the author’s argue to an extent the impact that globalization and government coercion has upon the control of the internet (pp. 179). A key point is the authors’ reference to Lawrence Lessig and his ideas on "code is law," (pp. 72), within a unique perspective, "When governement practices control through code, it is practicing a commonplace form of intermediary control,” (p. 72). The chapter on China is particularly interesting, it explores internet security and censorship, amidst the topic of internet governance.

The authors’, in section three, really highlight the positive and negative constructs governments and web authorities are facing. The authors‘ really aim to, “…show how the future of the internet will be shaped by domestic politics and international relations, as interest groups and countries fight for control and influence over the once borderless medium,” (pp. 130). The most important point is on how the internet now has borders and their roles are derived from enforcement of national laws, language and culture, and technological developments (pp. 149-150). Finally the authors explore the lessons learned from global rules and how and when they can or cannot be applied within the internet.

The book does make a great case for explaining how the internet is governed and how we have reached this point. The book was an easy read and concise, any chapter could have been a book itself. The book is truly remarkable in the amount of examples it uses to highlight the main points. Any given chapter really highlights a moment in internet history that supports the point being addressed. The book makes you think about your place in history when these events were taking place. Subsequently it makes you provoke your current understanding of the way you use the internet and how it affects the norms you have about its dynamic framework.The book is relative to our course in many ways that mirror on a smaller scale the concepts involved with authority and control of our web space. As we have collaborated through our wiki environment we have had to accept the the guidelines proposed from our professor, but at the same time have had some affect to the norms established in the class through the development of our contributed work. I would recommend this book, even just as a casual read, it can be accessed online through the Arizona State University library.

The book has minor weak points, it does read a bit dry in some points, in particular with the discussion of file sharing, although it does add more importance to behavior and law regarding the internet. Where the book is solid is in provoking though about the future direction of internet and globalization trends. There is something in thinking of these concepts while personally using the internet that make you wonder what truly is going on in this network of people, files, and information. Some questions that I personally had that could be further explored are, to what extent do web companies sacrifice personal choice and belief when they deal outside of their borders? Is money the ultimate motivating factor in these decisions, or where do cases exist where moral or preferred belief supersedes profit in global internet control and transaction?

What really sets a striking point is the idea that powerful nation’s are in race to extend their dominance over the internet and to manipulate the authority and scope of its technology, the authors’ write “It is not just that nations have the power to shape the Internet’s architecture. It is that the United States, China, and Europe are using their coercive powers to establish different visions of what the internet might be,” (pp. 184)

Reference

Goldsmith, J. & Wu, T. (2006). Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/lib/asulib/docDetail.action?docID=101 60558