Customer Reviews
Good overview of social production - By: Anders Rune Jensen, 31 Dec 2008 
A great book that puts the whole social production, such as wikipedia & free software, into a much greater perspective than what one normally sees & analyzes it from several new angles which I havn't read anywhere before. The only weak points of the book is that its quite long & at times somewhat repetitive.
Like Lessig, but in a very broad context - By: Peter Tiarks, 29 May 2006 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 & innovation, both economically & socially motivated. Like them, it stresses the importance of openness & the commonsin maximising the internet's potential & so wants open spectrum, open code & less hasty & 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 & OCD that leads people to work on Linux, contribute to Wikipedia & write product reviews on Amazon. He then looks at what exactly this changes for economic production, democratic participation, cultural freedom & development, & argues that we need to do more to recognise & protect the benefits that it brings.
If did have a criticism, it would be that the book formalizes & 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 interestedin economics or politicsin the information age, & this is the most definitive treatment of them so far. Probably not one for the airport lounge, though.
