[Commlist] New book: Paradoxes of Network Neutralities

Russell Newman's book, “The Paradoxes of Network Neutralities,” is now 
out and available from MIT Press as part of its Information Policy 
series. The book tracks the history of recent movements and debates 
surrounding broadband nondiscrimination policy in the US, from efforts 
seeking open access in the 1990s to the Restoring Internet Freedom order 
and its aftermath. However, it goes further: it also addresses the role 
of these debates in nurturing what has popularly become known as 
'surveillance capitalism' and their connections - direct and ambivalent 
alike - with the neoliberal project, carrying deep implications for 
future reform efforts.

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THE PARADOXES OF NETWORK NEUTRALITIES

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/paradoxes-network-neutralities

Official Description:

Media reform activists rejoiced in 2015 when the FCC codified network 
neutrality, approving a set of Open Internet rules that prohibited 
providers 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.


Praise:

"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


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