Reviews
"... Geert Lovink warns that government and corporations are shutting down the culture of dissent that is the Net's true value." Paul Boutin Wired, [L]ovink offers a technologically savvy, theoretically tight, and -- perhaps surprisingly -- easily readable collection of 'net criticism.', [L]ovink offers a technologically savvy, theoretically tight, and--perhaps surprisingly--easily readable collection of 'net criticism.', Lovink unravels the euphoric claims for broadband and P2P as capably as he skewered push technology five years ago., "Lovink offers a technologically savvy, theoretically tight, and--perhaps surprisingly--easily readable collection of 'net.criticism.'" - Tobias C. van Veen, Capital Magazine, "... A unique contribution to the field...not to be missed." J. Macgregor Wise Journal of Communication, "... A unique contribution to the field...not to be missed." J. MacgregorWise Journal of Communication, "Lovink offers a technologically savvy, theoretically tight, and--perhaps surprisingly--easily readable collection of 'net.criticism.'" Tobias C. van Veen Capital Magazine, "Lovink unravels the euphoric claims for broadband and P2P as capably as he skewered push technology five years ago." Paul Boutin Wired, "Lovink offers a technologically savvy, theoretically tight, and--perhapssurprisingly--easily readable collection of 'net.criticism.'" Tobias C. van Veen Capital Magazine, ... Geert Lovink warns that government and corporations are shutting down the culture of dissent that is the Net's true value., "... Geert Lovink warns that government and corporations are shutting down theculture of dissent that is the Net's true value." Paul Boutin Wired, "Lovink unravels the euphoric claims for broadband and P2P as capably as he skeweredpush technology five years ago." Paul Boutin Wired
Synopsis
Net criticism that establishes the principles and foundation for a collaborative, global new media culture., Net criticism that establishes the principles and foundation for a collaborative, global new media culture. According to media critic Geert Lovink, the Internet is being closed off by corporations and governments intent on creating a business and information environment free of dissent. Calling himself a radical media pragmatist, Lovink envisions an Internet culture that goes beyond the engineering culture that spawned it to bring humanities, user groups, social movements, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), artists, and cultural critics into the core of Internet development. In Dark Fiber , Lovink combines aesthetic and ethical concerns and issues of navigation and usability without ever losing sight of the cultural and economic agendas of those who control hardware, software, content, design, and delivery. He examines the unwarranted faith of the cyber-libertarians in the ability of market forces to create a decentralized, accessible communication system. He studies the inner dynamics of hackers' groups, Internet activists, and artists, seeking to understand the social laws of online life. Finally, he calls for the injection of political and economic competence into the community of freedom-loving cyber-citizens, to wrest the Internet from corporate and state control. The topics include the erosion of email, bandwidth for all, the rise and fall of dot-com mania, techno-mysticism, sustainable social networks, the fight for a public Internet time standard, the strategies of Internet activists, mailing list culture, and collaborative text filtering. Stressing the importance of intercultural collaboration, Lovink includes reports from Albania, where NGOs and artists use new media to combat the country's poverty and isolation; from Taiwan, where the September 1999 earthquake highlighted the cultural politics of the Internet; and from Delhi, where a new media center explores free software, public access, and Hindi interfaces.
