基本信息编辑本段回目录
内容简介编辑本段回目录
作者简介编辑本段回目录
简评编辑本段回目录
Praise for Tim Wu’s THE MASTER SWITCH
“An explosive history that makes it clear how the information business became what it is today. Important reading.”
—Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More and Free: How
Today’s Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for Nothing; editor of Wired Magazine
“Wu’s book is both a masterful media history and an outline for the future of the digital age. The Master Switch brilliantly describes the never-ending tension between open and closed media, as it has effected everything from the printing press to the web, and details ways society might be able to prevent the disastrous closing down of digital freedoms currently threatening the open internet.”
—Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organization and Cognitive
Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
“Every now and then a book changes the way we understand the world. The Master Switch is such an achievement; it is a rigorous, imaginative and enthralling history of the Twentieth Century struggle among utopian innovators, profit-maximizing monopolists, and their often-hapless regulators. Wu has convincingly reinterpreted our media past, and by doing so, he has illuminated the risks to open media and Internet-enabled innovation that confront us in the present.”
—Steve Coll, President, New American Foundation and Pulitzer Prize winning author of Ghost Wars: The Secret
History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
“A masterpiece.”
—Lawrence Lessig, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics and Professor of Law, Harvard
University
“Ranging from the early days of Theodore Vail’s AT&T to the current battle between Google and Apple, Tim Wu’s work is a must read for those who want to know about the future of the Internet. The Master Switch is brilliant, with a distinctive voice that comes through on every page.”
—Josh Silverman, CEO, Skype
“A free and open Internet is not a given. Indeed, corporate interests are working feverishly to seize control of it. Drawing on history, The Master Switch shows how this could easily happen and why we are at risk of losing the freedom we now take for granted. A must-read for all Americans who want to remain the ones deciding what they can read, watch, and listen to.”
—Arianna Huffington
“Wu…artfully charts a single story in which economic power consistently trumps public good, with the Google of today being the latest ‘master switch’ that channels communication….Eye-opening reading, with implications for just about anyone who uses that utility, which means just about everyone.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
“[A] brilliant exploration of the oscillations of communications technologies between ‘open’ and ‘closed’ from the early days of telephone up through Hollywood and broadcast television up to the Internet era.”
—Michael Noer, Forbes
“Wu’s engaging narrative and remarkable historical detail make this a compelling and galvanizing cry for sanity…in the information age.”
—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review and ‘pick of the week’)
—Library Journal
“[A]n essential look at the directions that personal computing could be headed depending on which policies and worldviews come to dominate control over the Internet.”
—David Siegfried, Booklist (starred review)
“[M]asterful….fascinating…. a superstar in the telecommunications world…. Wu has a way of presenting complex and important concepts in a clear and understandable way….eminently readable…. a wealth of….fabulous anecdotes….a warning that we ignore at our peril.”
—Art Brodsky, Huffington Post
“The Master Switch….a brilliant explanation and history…. is as fascinating, wide-ranging, and, ultimately, inspiring book about communications policy and the information industries as you could hope to find…. Wu’s great strength is in the breadth of his scholarship an din his ability to use humor, clear language, and innovative arguments to connect diverse ideas…. Wu is that rare animal, an accomplished scholar who can write about complex ideas in ways that are accessible to all. And the ideas he’s covering are as important as any in our ideological marketplace today.”
—Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
哥伦比亚大学法学院的华裔教授Tim Wu是网络中立（net neutrality）一词的提出者。2000年前后他在硅谷一家公司工作，该公司的主要业务是销售用来过滤和封锁互联网某些部分的产品。这引起了他的思考，最终提出这一现在被广泛引用的概念。最近，他出版了新著《The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires》（大变迁：信息帝国的兴衰），引起广泛关注。据他自己在《纽约时报》访谈中说，此书实际上是一部美国人喜爱信息垄断的故事。在书中，他描 述了AT&T是怎样获得垄断地位，并压制可能与自己竞争的技术的。这个过程也适用于其他信息帝国：
大多数垄断者都会创造一个持续十年甚至更久的黄金年代，然后，它们渐渐变得对维持自己的权力更感兴趣，并开始压制可能威胁其规矩的技术，这时候AT&T就变得非常危险了。
历史上，AT&T曾经在1920年代就发明了磁带录音技术，但是由于害怕这种技术会威胁到自己利润丰厚的电话业务，公司选择将这一技术束之高阁。
Tim Wu认为，虽然互联网的设计本身是去中心、防止整合的，而且历史上也的确击败了AOL和时代华纳这样的垄断企图，但是今天由于有Apple这样的公司存在，形成信息垄断帝国的可能仍然很大。
在他看来，目前Facebook还在寻找导师，主要的战争是在Apple和Google之间展开，这是开放与封闭之争。但是，Facebook选择哪一边将影响巨大。
Apple是目前最具有帝国气质的公司，乔布斯的帝王味道十足。Wu引用熊彼特的话说，有一种特殊的人，他们做事情不为钱和舒适，而是为了创造一个私有王国，为了权力。而信息业还因为可以对网络进行控制，因此拥有了对人的意志的权力。
他还表示，Apple不会因为乔布斯离职而改变，这个公司已经有太多后者的印迹，并有了自身固有的运行轨道。
值得一提的是，Tim Wu有一个弟弟，是知名的游戏开发者。
互联网巨头的垄断寿命有多长？编辑本段回目录
Internet的发展趋势是自然垄断吗？哥伦比亚大学的Wu教授认为是。尽管Internet上有很多提供不同类型服务的公司，而且开店的门槛也很低，但是Wu教授指出其实在各种分类中，Internet也就是被那么几个公司所垄断了，其中包括Google，Facebook，Amazon，Skype，Twitter，Apple和eBay。
Wu教授写道：
Internet一向被世人认为是自由市场的典范—-竞争最充分的地方。那么为什么它看起来越来越像被垄断了呢？大部分的类别中都有一个占主导地位的公司。如Google控制着搜索，Facebook控制着社交网络，eBay控制着电子商务等等。
如果你将类分的够细的话，一个公司很容易被看成是垄断公司，但是Internet却不同，它所产生的垄断公司即便不是横跨所有的行业至少也横跨大多数的行业。（因为要垄断一个市场你并不需要拿到100%的实际份额）。更大的问题是这些巨头的垄断能够持续多久？
推动这些公司快速形成垄断的因素也可以很快成为他们的掘墓人。在Internet上转换成本几乎为0，每个产品的生死就在于用户鼠标的一击之间。
而实际上推动这些公司快速形成垄断的原因是Internet的网络效应。
Wu教授谈道：
我们作为一个集体才造就了Google和Facebook的垄断。因为只有用户越多，这些公司才会不断的去更新升级他们的服务，并成长成为行业的主导者。但是这些个人作出的一致性的决定却使得我们这个世界变得越来越单调—–我们面临的选择越来越少了。
其实这就和市场上的从众行为一样。
使用Google的人越多，Google的产品就变得越好；使用Facebook的人越多，你也就越想加入这个群体；在eBay上卖东西的商户越多，上来购物的买家也才会越多。
互联网上的垄断是实实在在存在并且会持续下去的。比如说Microsoft就持续垄断着桌面操作系统。但是似乎这些公司的垄断半衰期一直在缩短。AT&T的统治为70年，Microsoft的统治为25年，到此为止Google已统治了10年。Facebook的统治将会有多久呢？
垄断是个贬义词，但并不是所有的垄断都是有害的。垄断被规范立法的最主要的一个原因就是他们对价格的操纵，但是今天的互联网公司大多免费提供自己的服务，当消费者没有花钱消费的时候很难谈到说消费者损害的问题。比如Amazon就是通过提供低价商品来维持自己的垄断地位的。而且比起直接向我们收钱，许多互联网公司对收集我们的数据更感兴趣。
但是垄断确实会阻碍竞争，最终也会限制我们的选择。比如说Google，谁现在要是想在搜索上创业并挑战Google的霸主地位，那他一定是疯了。
我们回到垄断寿命的问题上来看看吧。如果Google的垄断只是过渡性的话（因为其没能赶上社交网络的车），那么它在搜索领域的垄断还很值得我们的关注吗？尽管我们仍须警惕互联网上的垄断，但是互联网的发展却远比立法快得多。
Via Techcrunch
本文链接地址：http://www.techcrunchchina.com/6862
来自TC中文。
说说吴修铭教授（Prof. Tim Wu）编辑本段回目录
昨天主页上做了一个无聊的排名，其中吴修铭教授名列前十。
说起来，第一次接触吴修铭教授（注意：此处所说的接触是指在互联网上点击之意，禁止联想！）大概是在一年多前，当时在哥大法学院的主页上闲逛，在Faculty上看到有一个Tim Wu的介绍，MS华人，然后打开他的主页，果然如此！不过那个时候也就以为他只是一位普通的教授而已，并没有作进一步八卦。
昨天看SSRN的下载量排名，发现吴教授名列前十！心生好奇，然后就google了下他的新闻。原来此人非同寻常！本科时学生物技术，后来读JD，法学院毕业之后做了波斯纳法官的助手，然后再到联邦最高法院做布莱耶法官的助手。做完助手，和一般人不一样，并没有到律所或者大学，而是到硅谷做市场营销，耳闻目染所谓的硅谷精神。返回象牙塔后，吴教授并没有两耳不闻窗外事，教书和写作之余，现在还是Google手机部门的负责人，专门负责Google公司手机部门的业务！——有意思的是，我的一位同事很早就知道Tim Wu，但是他仅知道Tim Wu是google负责手机软件程序的，而不知道他还是哥大法学院的教授，与我恰恰相反！
不赘述吴教授的传奇故事了，下面是来自《商业周刊》对吴教授的报道，诸位有兴趣，可以看看。
His wireless-phone manifesto was the inspiration for Google's new mobile-software strategy, which includes the Open Handset
by Spencer E. Ante
On Nov. 5, Google (GOOG) unveiled what many in the phone business had long awaited. CEO Eric Schmidt explained how the search giant was ready to create new software for mobile phones that would shake up the telecom status quo. A Google-led "Open Handset Alliance" would provide consumers an alternative to the big cellular carriers and give them new choices among mobile phones and the types of nifty services that run on them, from e-mail to Google Maps.
Google's brain trust was again trying to change the rules of the game. Behind the scenes, they owe a sizable debt to a man nearly unknown outside the geeky confines of cyberlaw. He is Tim Wu, a
Now, Wu's offbeat ideas are entering the mainstream. In February, he published a paper in the International Journal of Communication proposing a radical new vision of freedom for the
A Trigger for Innovation
The paper spread like juicy gossip around the Googleplex. Wu's vision resonated because Google had become frustrated with phone companies that were blocking some Google applications from being used on phones attached to their networks. Like Wu, Google believes an alliance based on openness will trigger a new wave of innovation. "Tim helped us catalyze a strategy," says Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google. "He's a singular force in this space. You're just seeing the start of what he's going to accomplish."
Wu, 35, has emerged this year as a key influencer in telecom. He rose to prominence by popularizing "Net neutrality," the notion that network service providers should not be allowed to deny people access to certain Web sites or prioritize certain content. Telecom carriers believe their multi-billion-dollar investments give them the right to decide what is transmitted on their networks. "The highly competitive wireless industry is demonstrating that neither legislation nor regulation is required to produce innovation," says Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson. While Sprint Nextel (S) and T-Mobile have joined the Google alliance, AT&T (T) and Verizon, the two largest
Important Voice
Wu has had a surprisingly large influence on telecom policy on Capitol Hill. In 2006, he was invited by the FCC to help draft the first-ever Net neutrality rules that were attached to the merger of AT&T and BellSouth. They required the company for 30 months to allow consumers to access any content or service of their choice, while barring AT&T from providing faster service to any content or service provider. Over the summer, the FCC adopted two of Wu's proposals for an upcoming auction of wireless airwaves. The rules require network operators to support any device or application on the spectrum they buy. Now, Wu is pressing for network neutrality throughout wireless computing.
Wu's work exploring the nexus of communications and the law has made him the field's most important new voice. Lawrence Lessig, a
At
An Indirect Career Path
Born to a Taiwanese father and British mother, Wu was taught to think unconventionally. His hippie parents met in grad school at the
Initially, Wu studied biochemistry at
After college, Wu decided to apply to law school on a whim. At Harvard, he merely drifted through his classes until he took a course on technology and the law with Lessig, who was teaching there at the time. "That's when I first started thinking of becoming a law professor," says Wu. Armed with a strong recommendation from Lessig, Wu landed a plum clerkship with Federal Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner and later clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer.
Yet, instead of heading for academia or a white-shoe firm, Wu moved to
In 2002, he landed a job teaching law at the
In 2003, Wu presented the paper. It fell flat. A year later, though, his message was heard—and amplified—when former FCC Chairman Michael Powell cited his Net neutrality work in a speech. "That's when things took off," says Wu.
参考文献编辑本段回目录
http://regulation.fyfz.cn/art/290590.htm
