The Paradoxes of Network Neutralities

by Russell A. Newman

Overview

An argument that the movement for network neutrality was of a piece with its neoliberal environment, solidifying the continued existence of a commercially driven internet.

Media reform activists rejoiced in 2015 when the FCC codified network neutrality, approving a set of Open Internet rules that prohibitedproviders from favoring some content and applications over others—only to have their hopes dashed two years later when the agency reversed itself. In this book, Russell Newman offers a unique perspective on these events, arguing that the movement for network neutrality was of a piece with its neoliberal environment rather than counter to it; perversely, it served to solidify the continued existence of a commercially dominant internet and even emergent modes of surveillance and platform capitalism. Going beyond the usual policy narrative of open versus closed networks, or public interest versus corporate power, Newman uses network neutrality as a lens through which to examine the ways that neoliberalism renews and reconstitutes itself, the limits of particular forms of activism, and the shaping of future regulatory processes and policies.

Newman explores the debate's roots in the 1990s movement for open access, the transition to network neutrality battles in the 2000s, and the terms in which these battles were fought. By 2017, the debate had become unmoored from its own origins, and an emerging struggle against “neoliberal sincerity” points to a need to rethink activism surrounding media policy reform itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262355087
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	11/12/2019
Series:	Information Policy
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	576
File size:	831 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Russell A. Newman is Assistant Professor in the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College and Faculty Associate at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He is a coeditor of The Future of Media: Resistance and Reform in the 21st Century.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Newman's powerful, deeply researched book about the seventeen-year-old net neutrality fight puts the focus where it belongs—on communications policy advocates who won a stunning victory in 2015, only to lose it in 2017. His critique of the advocates' strategies provides a roadmap for critical battles yet to come.

—Gigi B. Sohn, Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy; counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler

The fight for net neutrality is one of the most important policy struggles facing the U.S. today. By situating it within a long history of political and intellectual contestation, Newman masterfully theorizes and clarifies this vital issue. Engagingly written, deeply researched, and provocatively argued, this book is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of democracy.

—Victor Pickard, coauthor of After Net Neutrality: A New Deal for the Digital Age

The successes and failures of net neutrality represent the most dramatic achievement of progressive action in U.S. telecommunications policy since the 1960s. This book is the essential guide. Newman rises above his activist roots, providing a magisterial scholarly history of the struggles over net neutrality, rich in both empirical detail and incisive theoretical insights, well attuned to the many ironies of the story.

—Thomas Streeter, Professor, Western University, Ontario; author of The Net Effect: Romanticism, Capitalism, and the Internet

In The Paradoxes of Network Neutralities, Newman offers a capacious and nuanced account, placing present and recent contestations around net neutrality within a critical interpretive context. With a sympathetic yet shrewd eye, he demonstrates how market framings have constrained media reform efforts. Scholars, activists, and policymakers will all benefit from Newman's insight into the long-standing struggle over telecommunications rights in a democracy.

—Christina Dunbar-Hester, faculty member, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California; author of Hacking Diversity: The Politics of Inclusion in Open Technology Cultures and Low Power to the People: Pirates, Protest, and Politics in FM Radio Activism