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Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996
From: Phil Agre <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: Civilizing Cyberspace
[Steve Miller's new book is the book to hand to your friends and family who
are starting from scratch and want an intelligent guide to the policy issues
around the net.]
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 09:02:21 -0500 (EST)
From: •••@••.•••
CIVILIZING CYBERSPACE:
Policy, Power, and the Information Superhighway
By Steven E. Miller
Addison-Wesley, Dec. 1995
The Information Superhighway explained! This is the book that
lets the rest of us finally understand what it is, what impact it will
have, and what we can do to shape our own future. What is behind
the headline-grabbing mega-mergers of media companies besides
speculative grabbing after windfall profits? Will deregulation and
competition lead to widespread service, lower costs, and consumer
satisfaction or information red-lining, higher prices, and teleconglomerate
monopoly? Who will benefit and who will be hurt if the U.S. uses
high tech for competitive advantage in the global market? Is the Internet
a hot bed of pornography and crime, or a tool for learning and democratic
power?
Miller weaves together business trends, political economy,
American history, technological savvy, and an awareness of our
every-day needs to focus on the issues that really matter and to make
the choices clear. Readable, comprehensive, and insightful--
Civilizing Cyberspace is for non-technical people as well as computer
professionals, ordinary citizens as well as official policy-makers.
Civilizing Cyberspace explains:
* how universal service can be achieved, while avoiding
the creation of information "haves and have nots"
* what is necessary to protect privacy and prevent the
erosion of free speech and civil liberties
* what we can do to protect our standard of living in a
multi-national economy,
* how can telecommunications be used to strengthen
democracy and community rather than as simply a new method of
media manipulation.
Steven E. Miller has been the editor-in-chief of Lotus Magazine, the
Science Commentator for the Emmy-award winning TV show, One
Norway Street, and the recipient of a Mass. Taxpayers Assoc.
award for his leadership in using technology to improve
government operations. He has been a community organizer
and history teacher, and is currently on the national Board of
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR).
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Praise for
Civilizing Cyberspace:
Policy, Power, and the Information
Superhighway
by Steven E. Miller
"Steve Miller has written a readable, thought-provoking guide to the
information policy conundrums of the age. He is at his best when he
pierces the rhetorical redoubt of deregulation and asks what results
we are seeking -- bigger monopolies? broader competition? an
information elite? -- from public action. E-mail to policy makers:
Read This Book."
--Rep. Edward J. Markey, U.S. Congress
"Finally, here is a book that clarifies the issues and lets those of us
who are not computer jocks -- female or male -- understand what's
going on behind the headlines so that we may become part of the
decision-making process."
-- Letty Cottin Pogrebin, founding editor, Ms. Magazine
"This is the best book I have seen on the public policy debates
surrounding the information superhighway. It covers all aspects of
this debate, including democracy, citizenship, community networks,
privacy, intellectual property, competing models of the NII, universal
service, equity, freedom of expression, protecting the public interest,
encryption, and so on. Highly recommended for anyone interested in
this subject, or for use as a text in classes."
-- Gary Chapman, Coordinator, The 21st Century
Project at the University of Texas, Austin
"Civilizing Cyberspace is excellent -- timely, understandable,
enjoyable to read -- and covers a huge number of the most talked
about and important technology-related public policy issues facing
our country. Telecommunications is about culture and the core
values of our society. Steve Miller has given us a wonderful
explanation of the business and political trends that are impacting
every aspect of our lives. All of us, no matter what our level of
technical expertise, will benefit from the knowledge and insights to
be gained by reading this book."
-- Coralee Whitcomb, Editor, Telecom Post
"Steve Miller is an authority on the practice of grassroots democracy.
Civilizing Cyberspace provides all of the facts and arguments you
need to start organizing for democratic uses of computer networking
in your own community."
-- Phil Agre, Editor, The Network Observer (TNO)
"It is vital that individuals become aware of both the potential and
risk of the tools of interactive communication as we enter the
Knowledge Age. Civilizing Cyberspace introduces us to the ways in
which the Information Superhighway will affect every aspect of our
lives."
-- Mario Morino, President, Morino Institute
"Between the myopic vision of the Information Highway as a global
village bringing enlightenment to us all, and apocalyptic warnings
that we are about to become prisoners of our own machines,
Civilizing Cyberspace reminds us that what we gain from the
Internet depends on how we use it. The book provides invaluable
guidance to all those interested in public policy in this area that
genuinely serves the public interest."
-- Ed Schwartz, President, Institute for the Study of
Civic Values
"Mr. Miller's fine writing, thorough research and gripping examples
cut to the heart of the diverse issues surrounding the evolving NII.
* the best overview document available; a seminal
contribution.
* refreshingly readable, current, and honestly to the point.
* a must-read for anyone attempting to understand the
genuine potential, and negating power battles, of the NII initiative."
-- Frank Odasz, Director, Big Sky Telegraph
"Steve Miller has written a provocative book that raises some very
disturbing questions about where we are going on the 'information
superhighway'. If these questions aren't widely discussed and
debated, then major policy decisions affecting our culture, our
economy, and even our democracy will be made by politicians
responding to the pressures of powerful special interest groups, with
little or no public input."
-- Dr. Barbara Simons, Chairperson, U.S. Public Policy
Committee, Association for Computing Machinery
(ACM)
"Civilizing Cyberspace provides the best overall perspective on
information highway policy issues that I've yet come across. Of
particular interest are the section summarizing agendas driving
government, industry and other players; and the section comparing
information highway development to earlier periods of national
infrastructure development. Civilizing Cyberspace is particularly
good at airing the issues that will most effect our daily lives as the
information highway increasingly permeates our everyday lives."
-- Miles Fidelman, President, The Center for Civic
Networking
"This is a call to action to everyone who feels powerless to have a
positive impact on the steady march of information technology into
our lives. Ordinary people can act to make sure that the Information
Age has something to do with real human experiences and needs.
This book tells you why it makes a difference to take action and how
to do it."
-- Deborah Kaplan, World Institute on Disability WID),
Member of the United States Advisory Council on the
National Information Infrastructure
"We live in an age where photographs are no longer mediums of
truth; our sense can no longer be trusted. Steve Miller's well-written
book challenges us to think in anticipation of what value systems
might be threatened by new 'virtual reality' technologies. Can we
avoid becoming disempowered victims of our own cleverness?"
-- Joan Bavaria, President, Social Investment Forum
"Steve Miller's Civilizing Cyberspace gives the reader a 'citizens
perspective' on debates about the future of our telecommunications
infrastructure. Miller believes that democratic values should inform
public policies about telecommunications, and his book is full of
tid-bits and longer discussions about the things that matter the most -
- how the new computer networks affect our culture and our
relationships to each other. The index jumps from one hot button
Internet topic to another, giving the reader an opportunity to surf
from universal service or intellectual property rights to sex on the
Internet, as well as to dozens of obscure or familiar issues."
-- James Love, Executive Director, Consumer Project on
Technology, Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP)
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Posted by Richard K. Moore (•••@••.•••) Wexford, Ireland
Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/
CyberLib: http://www.internet-eireann.ie/cyberlib
Materials may be reposted in their entirety for non-commercial use.
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