Author(s): Timothy Wu

Business

The Internet Age: on the face of it, an era of unprecedented freedom in both communication and culture. Yet in the past, each major new medium, from telephone to satellite television, has crested on a wave of similar idealistic optimism, before succumbing to the inevitable undertow of industrial consolidation. Every once free and open technology has, in time, become centralized and closed; as corporate power has taken control of the 'master switch.' Today a similar struggle looms over the Internet, and as it increasingly supersedes all other media the stakes have never been higher. Part industrial expose, part examination of freedom of expression, "The Master Switch" reveals a crucial drama - full of indelible characters - as it has played out over decades in the shadows of global communication. It is suitable for readers of Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows", Clay Shirky's "Cognitive Surplus" and "Googled" by Ken Auletta.