Net Loss: Internet Prophets, Private Profits, and the Costs to Community

Newman, a union lawyer, political activist, and frequent contributor to Technology Review, Progressive Populist, and American Prospect, offers a thinly disguised rewrite of his groundbreaking 1998 doctoral dissertation. On the surface, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the federal government's long-obscured role in the development of the Internet and the changing role of regions in the U.S. economy. At its heart, it is a call for individuals, groups, and communities to organize and counter the various political, social, and economic costs that have resulted, including globalization, contingent employment, economic polarization, expanded regulation, inequality, joblessness, outsourcing, opportunism, privatization, wage stagnation, and the disempowerment of communities and local government. Along the way, Newman provides a well-written history of the Internet plus an analysis of key events, including the federal government's decision to withdraw from controlling the net, the passage of Proposition 13 in California, the breakup of AT&T, the 1999 battle in Seattle during the World Trade Organization conference, and the 2001 energy crisis in California. Recommended for both academic libraries and larger public libraries. Norm Hutcherson, California State Univ. Lib., Bakersfield
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

“Nathan Newman has written a fascinating history of the Silicon Valley that chronicles the federal government’s leading role in creating, and then privatizing, the Internet. Net Loss not only dispels the myth that the Internet emerged full-blown as a result of entrepreneurial risk in a competitive marketplace, but also explains in depth how forces of globalization have undermined regional economies in California while reshaping social and political life in local communities. This groundbreaking book is a must read for anyone concerned with the power of global corporations and the future of democratic governance.”

―Scott Bowman, California State University, Los Angeles

“Net Loss is the perfect antidote for the confusion generated by the years of hype and the recent disillusionment surrounding the Internet economy. Nathan Newman offers a cogent and original analysis of what the Internet has really meant to the regional economy of the Silicon Valley as well as to other regions. Anyone in search of fresh ideas carefully grounded in a rich base of research will find this book just what they have been looking for.”

―Peter Evans, University of California, Berkeley

“While the dot.com’s have crashed and burned, the ideology surrounding them hasn't. Nathan Newman’s Net Loss is an essential and original contribution to putting the cyberlibertarians’ nonsense behind us―a reminder of the central role of government in developing the Internet, and the legal manipulations behind all the wacky and destructive experiments in deregulation of the last 20 years. An important story very well told.”

―Doug Henwood, editor of Left Business Observer

“Nathan Newman tells us that the received wisdom on the Internet is simply wrong. The Internet is supposed to annihilate the state, undermining both the practical importance and the empirical need for government; Newman tells us the truth is exactly the opposite. The Internet is supposed to annihilate geography; Newman tells us that, at every stage, it shows us both the importance and the need for community level economic regulation. You may not agree with Newman's conclusions, but you will not be able to ignore them.”

―James Boyle, Duke Law School

“The book provides an in-depth analysis of the federal government’s long-obscured role in the development of the Internet and the changing role of regions in the U.S. economy. At its heart, it is a call for individuals, groups, and communities to organize and counter the various political, social, and economic costs that have resulted. . . . Newman provides a well-written history of the Internet plus an analysis of key events, including the federal government’s decision to withdraw from controlling the net, the passage of Proposition 13 in California, the breakup of AT&T, the 1999 battle in Seattle during the World Trade Organization conference, and the 2001 energy crisis in California.”

―Norm Hutcherson Library Journal

“Makes a provocative case for business civic-mindedness.”

―John T. Landry Harvard Business Review

“This marvelous book provides a well-written and detailed analysis of the transformation of American society associated with the rise of the Internet. . . . This work contains a massive quantity of information yet it is in a way comprehensible for undergraduate students.”

―M. Perelman CHOICE