The Anarchist in the Library : How the Clash Between Freedom and Control Is Hacking the Real World and Carshing the System - Vaidhyanathan, Siva (New York : Basic Books, 2005)
From the mind of one of today's foremost cultural historians and media scholars comes a riveting analysis of the impact of Internet technology on our social, political and cultural future. Siva Vaidhyanathan exposes the ongoing struggle over control of information and technology in modern society, which governs the development of modern culture. It is a battle of those wishing to strictly regulate the flow of information versus those seeking its liberation. The author offers no resolution to this debate, but instead reveals two schools of thought for the reader to explore: anarchy, a culture free from monopolistic structure; and oligarchy, a culture burdened by government regulation and hierarchical leadership. Which regime will shape our cultural future? Siva Vaidhyanathan, currently the director of the undergraduate program in communication studies in the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University, originally wrote this book as a sequel to Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity. His agenda was to evaluate the evolution of MP3 music file-sharing through peer-to-peer networking systems on the Internet. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Vaidhyanathan broadened his scope to focus more generally on the impact of information-sharing on culture as a whole. As a result, he has created a unique commentary on the significance of media, technology, and the Internet in shaping modern culture. (provided by publisher)
boek