The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
by Yochai Benkler
List Price:
Our Price: $12.16
You Save: $7.84 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.50 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Yochai BenklerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-23
ISBN: 0300125771
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Yale University Press
Book Reviews of The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
Book Review: Like Lessig, but in a very broad context
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, if you're looking for a nice introduction to what happens when law meets the internet, this is not your book. If this is your first dip into the debate, you're looking for Code or The Future of Ideas, both by Lawrence Lessig. Like those books (especially TFOI) it's big on the idea of the internet as a wonderful platform for free expression and innovation, both economically and socially motivated. Like them, it stresses the importance of openness and the commons in maximising the internet's potential and so wants open spectrum, open code and less hasty and restrictive intellectual property law. Unlike them, it can be very heavy going at times.
That's not really a criticism, because Benkler's written something much more self-consciously theoretical than most of the other cyber-law stuff you'll find on the market. His big idea is that the really fundamental change that the internet brings is social production - the fusion between social instincts, altruism and OCD that leads people to work on Linux, contribute to Wikipedia and write product reviews on Amazon. He then looks at what exactly this changes for economic production, democratic participation, cultural freedom and development, and argues that we need to do more to recognise and protect the benefits that it brings.
If did have a criticism, it would be that the book formalizes and thus labours what may seem like rather obvious points after the third variation. On the other hand, that's the nature of the beast if you're looking for a thorough academic treatment of these issues. The issues addressed are hugely important for anyone interested in economics or politics in the information age, and this is the most definitive treatment of them so far. Probably not one for the airport lounge, though.
Business & Investing Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Small Business Books for New Entrepreneurs
The Purpose Driven? Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven? Life, The)by Rick Warren
Zondervan; Published: 2007-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everythingby Stephen M.R. Covey
Free Press; Published: 2008-02-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.57
Price in other shops:
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenmentby Eckhart Tolle
New World Library; Published: 2004-09-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.96
Price in other shops:
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61)by Eckhart Tolle
Penguin; Published: 2008-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Richby Timothy Ferriss
Crown; Published: 2007-04-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.19
Price in other shops:
Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happinessby Kathy Freston
Weinstein Books; Published: 2008-05-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.85
Price in other shops:
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealthby T. Harv Eker
Collins Business; Published: 2005-02-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
The Secretby Rhonda Byrne
Atria Books/Beyond Words; Published: 2006-11-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Hypnotic Writing: How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Wordsby Joe Vitale
Wiley; Published: 2006-12-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.89
Price in other shops:
Your Internet Cash Machine: The Insiders Guide to Making Big Money, Fast!by Joe Vitale
Wiley; Published: 2008-01-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless Worldby Jack Goldsmith, Tim Wu
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.47
Price in other shops:
The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop Itby Jonathan Zittrain
Yale University Press; Published: 2008-04-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.69
Price in other shops:
Code: Version 2.0by Lawrence Lessig
Basic Books; Published: 2006-12-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.83
Price in other shops:
The Wisdom of Crowdsby James Surowiecki
Anchor; Published: 2005-08-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.15
Price in other shops:
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of Moreby Chris Anderson
Hyperion; Published: 2006-07-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorderby David Weinberger
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.36
Price in other shops:
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizationsby Clay Shirky
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2008-02-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.89
Price in other shops:
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collideby Henry Jenkins
NYU Press; Published: 2006-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.75
Price in other shops:
Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledgeby Cass R. Sunstein
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops:
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everythingby Taps Don, Anthony D. Williams
Portfolio Hardcover; Published: 2008-04-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.95
Price in other shops: