science

Who Controls the Internet?

Who Controls the Internet? is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Who Controls the Internet? rather than just read about it. In short: Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World is a 2006 book by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu that assesses efforts to control the Internet.

Key takeaways

Who Controls the Internet? belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Who Controls the Internet? to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Who Controls the Internet? from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World is a 2006 book by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu that assesses efforts to control the Internet. Starting with a discussion of ideas for creating a borderless global community, the authors explore individuals, ideas and movements that affected the development of the Internet. They conclude that the governmental coercion has significant shaped the process, undermining efforts for a free Internet.

Overview

The book is divided into three parts. The first follows the early development of the Internet, including the free vision of articulated by Julian Dibbell and John Perry Barlow as well as the work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It also presents government control over domain names, which shifted from Jon Postel to a Department of Defense' subcontractor called Network Solutions in 1991, as well as resistance to efforts by Postel and the Internet Society to ensure the legal protection of Internet freedoms. The second part of the book, title "Government Strikes Back", explores the differentiation of the Internet as users around the world have sought information in their local languages and contexts. At the same time, various governments have used pressure to restrict Internet content, shown through examples such as Google de-listing Operation Clambake in response to a Digital Millennium Copyright Act filing by the Church of Scientology; Saudi Arabian filters blocking websites containing pornography, gambling, interfaith dialogue, and discussions about how to circumvent filtering; the neutralization of HavenCo; and Chinese censorship of the Internet and arrests of dissidents who contribute to it. This part closes with discussion of legal battles between the RIAA and file-sharing services, as well as the emergence of legal and illegal alternatives. Discussion closes with "Vice, Virtues, the Future", a section that begins with a case study of eBay within the context of government protections and law enforcement. The authors conclude, based on the case of eBay and other cases where technology companies have complied with government regulations, that the Internet is not a borderless society as first envisioned but rather a bordered one. They speculate that cultural and political differences may result in a "technological Cold War", wherein the United States, European Union, and China develop their own competitive Internet platforms.

Reviews This is a book that needed to be written. I like what it contributes to the debate on Internet governance. But I do not like what is likely to be its political impact on that debate. … The triumphalism of this book is premature. … –In The New Cyber-Conservatism: A review of Goldsmith and Wu's 'Who Controls the Internet?, by Milton Mueller, Syracuse University In the 1990s the Internet was greeted as the New New Thing: It would erase national borders, give rise to communal societies that invented their own rules, undermine the power of governments. In this splendidly argued book, Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu explain why these early assumptions were mostly wrong: The Internet turns out to illustrate the enduring importance of Old Old Things, such as law and national power and business logic. By turns provocative and colorful, this is an essential read for anyone who cares about the relationship between technology and globalization. –Sebastian Mallaby, Editorial Writer and Columnist, The Washington Post

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Who Controls the Internet?

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Who Controls the Internet? claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Who Controls the Internet? before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Who Controls the Internet? ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Who Controls the Internet?

In research: Who Controls the Internet? appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Who Controls the Internet? in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Who Controls the Internet? is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 non-fiction books, Books about the Internet, Domain name seizures by the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Who Controls the Internet? outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Who Controls the Internet? in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Who Controls the Internet? means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Who Controls the Internet? out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Who Controls the Internet? in simple terms?

Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World is a 2006 book by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu that assesses efforts to control the Internet.

Why does Who Controls the Internet? matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Who Controls the Internet??

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Who Controls the Internet?.