Techdirt Reading List: More Crypto Books

from the read-up dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

Two weeks ago for the Techdirt Reading List, we talked about two books that discussed the original crypto wars in the 1990s: Steven Levy's Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government--Saving Privacy in the Digital Age and Laura Gurak's Persuasion and Privacy in Cyberspace: The Online Protests over Lotus MarketPlace and the Clipper Chip. In the comments, many of you suggested some other worthwhile books, so I wanted to add those as well.

First up, there's Simon Singh's The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, which looks really fantastic, going through the history of encryption. I haven't read it yet, but from the description and the reviews, it looks wonderful and it's going to move to the top of my personal reading list. Then there's Bruce Schneier's The Electronic Privacy Papers: Documents on the Battle for Privacy in the Age of Surveillance. And finally, Peter Ludlow's Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias -- which also looks great, but is insanely expensive, either in harcopy or (ridiculously) digital ($27.89 for the Kindle edition?!?!). I'll mention it here, but at that price who do they think is actually buying it?

Either way, looks like there's lots of good reading to do on the encryption issue.

Filed Under: crypto, encryption, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: From Counterculture To Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, The Whole Earth Network, And The Rise Of Digital Utopianism

from the internet-culture dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

If you haven't spent much time deep within Silicon Valley, it's often difficult to understand the culture here. People often try -- and they frequently get it wrong, often by resorting to weak stereotypes. Some people focus on the supposedly hippy dippy idealism of making the world a better place and improving access to information. Others focus on the massive businesses, huge monetary rewards and disruptive competition to argue that it's all about the money. And then people frequently talk about the very "libertarian" focus of Silicon Valley, often not realizing it's quite different than the political libertarianism most people think about. And then there are others who focus on the massive quest for data, and worry about the potential authoritarian possibilities associated with it. And, in a weird way, the reality of Silicon Valley is a hard-to-grasp-until-you've-lived-it mix of all of that. And focusing solely on just one almost always misses the real story and the real motivations behind what happens here.

That's why this week's recommendation on the Techdirt Reading List is From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism, which really does a great job illustrating just how Silicon Valley culture turned into what it is today. The book is a few years old, and I was only just reminded of it during an AMA by John Perry Barlow.

There are some other books that delve into the culture of Silicon Valley, but I still go back to this one as being the closest I've seen to really getting the overall mix right, and actually showing how these different concepts aren't as contradictory as many people naturally assume. It shows how a technology that was originally focused on and designed for military uses, was quickly turned into a tool for freedom, liberation and expression. And, yes, with that came money and power as well. But the combination makes a lot more sense than most people think, and this book does a great job explaining how all of that came about.

Filed Under: counterculture, cyberculture, reading list, stewart brand, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: The God's Eye View

from the snowden-inspired-thriller dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

This week's book is (I think...) our first fiction book in the series. It's also not out yet, but it's coming out on Tuesday so you can pre-order it now. It's Barry Eisler's new Ed Snowden-inspired thriller The God's Eye View. Barry was kind enough to send me a pre-publication draft of the book and it's wonderful on multiple levels. First off, it's a "can't put it down, have to keep turning the pages" thriller that you'd expect from Eisler, whose previous thrillers have ended up on the NY Times best seller list. He knows how to keep you totally gripped to the story and in a state of suspense throughout.

But it's more than just a page-turner thriller. The book is clearly inspired by the Ed Snowden revelations, and not only does it have tons of little Easter Eggs for people who have followed the surveillance debate, but it also includes at the end details of how many of the "crazy" and outlandish spy programs and tactics described in the book are actually happening today, based on the Snowden leaks and other related investigative reporting and whistleblowers. So it's an educational book as well, that helps highlight why we should be so worried about the kind of power and surveillance the NSA is capable of pulling off today. If you want to convince someone why the NSA's powers are so concerning, and want to do it in a truly entertaining way, this is the book for you.

It's also pretty cheap for a new release these days. If you're signed up for Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, it's actually included so it doesn't cost anything extra. But if you're not, the ebook is just $5.99, which is way below most ebooks these days. If you don't know Barry Eisler, he's a former CIA spook, who became a best selling novelist, and who famously turned down a huge publishing contract to self-publish. He's also written a bunch of guest posts for us and been on our podcast (twice!).

Finally, if you're in the California Bay Area, on Wednesday night, I'll be interviewing Barry at a Commonwealth Club event about the new book and probably lots of other topics as well (surveillance, publishing and who knows what else...). It'll be a fun discussion, so if you're in the area, check it out. And, either way, I highly recommend the book.

Filed Under: barry eisler, ed snowden, nsa, surveillance, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: The Public Domain: Enclosing The Commons Of The Mind

from the don't-forsake-the-public-domain dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt. Every year at the beginning of January, we post a story about all the works that should be entering the public domain in the US, but aren't. That's always based on a blog post from Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain, which is led by professor James Boyle. Every time we do this, some people seem to ask what's such a big deal about the public domain anyway, and I usually like to point such people to Boyle's own book on the subject: The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind.

The book is a wonderful exploration about the public domain, why it's important and how problematic it is that it's been systematically cut off and starved. And, yes, before you ask, if you want a free copy of the book that's available too (though, obviously buying a copy supports both Boyle and us (if you use our Amazon link above). Beyond being educational about the public domain, the book is very readable and entertaining as well. For some reason, people who aren't immersed in this stuff sometimes think that issues like the public domain need to be dry and boring, but much of it is really fascinating. If you don't feel like reading the whole book, but just dipping in for parts, I highly recommend Chapter 6, entitled I Got a Mashup. Though, once you read that, it hopefully will make you want to read the entire thing. I've found it one of the most useful books in showing just why the public domain is so important, and why it's so disastrous that it's been closed off for so long.

Filed Under: copyright, james boyle, public domain, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: Economics Rules: The Rights And Wrongs Of The Dismal Science

from the economics-is-fun dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

This week, we have Harvard Professor Dani Rodrik's excellent new book Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science. We write and talk a lot about economics around here, and we've recommended a number of economics or economics-related books. I've also argued in the past that economics should be a key subject taught in schools, if only because so many people (especially policy makers) seem to have trouble understanding the concept of tradeoffs, which are so key to understanding economics.

Of course, economics is also somewhat controversial. Sometimes it's described more like a science, and other times as a more wishy-washy "social" science, and then, to many, it's nothing but a scam. The fact that economists rarely agree on things certainly doesn't help matters. Add to that fact the various disciplines within economics, which sometimes appear to be contradictory (even if they're often not), and many outside of the field like to dismiss the concept of economics entirely, even when it actually is incredibly valuable in understanding the world around us and the options around various policy choices. And that's where Economics Rules is such a valuable addition to the thinking about economics.

Rodrik does a really great job laying out where much of the confusion and misunderstanding comes from, highlighting how economics is -- very much purposely -- about building models. But models, by their very nature, are not the complete picture of everything. They are limited models, which are very, very useful... in specific circumstances. When you need a map telling you how to drive to the doctor, you don't need a map that shows you changes in elevation. That information may be more accurate, but isn't very useful. So the crux of Rodrik's argument is that different economic models are useful in different situations, and if we just spent more time focusing on making sure people were using the right model in the right situation -- rather than looking for the grand unified perfect model that explains everything, economics would be a lot more useful in general.

The book is great in that it's useful both for people who aren't that familiar with economics -- to help them understand why it's useful and when it's not so useful -- as well as those who are deeply familiar with economics. For the latter, it's really useful for getting people to step away from steadfast devotion to certain models in areas where they might not really apply, where assumptions may not line up and where the key variables may actually be different. Personally, I found it quite useful in shaping my own thinking about economics and economic issues.

Filed Under: dani rodrik, economics rules, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: The Little Book Of Plagiarism

from the plagiarize-this dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt. Earlier this week, we wrote about an important (and useful) First Amendment ruling by 7th Circuit appeals court judge Richard Posner. Posner is one of the most well known judges around today, in part because of his prolific writing on many different subjects -- not all of which are directly about the law (though many are). One of his books that I quite enjoy is the short book he published back in 2007 called The Little Book of Plagiarism. It's a quick read at only 128 pages, but a worthwhile look into the history of plagiarism, and whether or not it's that big of a deal.

Plagiarism is one of those interesting things where people have wildly different reactions to it -- with some insisting it must be illegal (it's generally not, as there's no law against "plagiarism," though it may violate copyright law in some cases). However, some creative folks have finally begun to recognize that plagiarism can actually be a key element of being creative. Writers Malcolm Gladwell and Jonathan Lethem both wrote long articles more or less defending plagiarism -- with Lethem's article entirely plagiarized from other sources.

That's not to say that all plagiarism is excusable. Passing off another's work as your own is quite reasonably frowned upon in most instances, but what all of these -- including Posner's book -- suggest, is that it's the kind of infraction that doesn't need a legal response, but rather social shaming is actually quite effective at dealing with plagiarists and undermining their own credibility. Posner's book is not a defense of plagiarism by any means. It notes how unethical it can be and the problems associated with plagiarism, but does a nice job putting it into perspective, and noting that the context matters very much. And while there are times when it is clearly not acceptable to plagiarize, there are others where it's clearly a reasonable creative endeavor.

Filed Under: plagiarism, reading list, richard posner, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation

from the imitation-is-more-than-just-flattery dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

This week, we've got the wonderful book The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation by law professors Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman. We have written about the book before and have even hosted some excerpts from the book, but it's a really great and important read. We mentioned it earlier this week in our story about the attempts to lock up pot with intellectual property protections -- because that story reflected much of what's in the Knockoff Economy.

The key point of the book is to highlight that the very premise behind many calls for intellectual property protection doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. Defenders of the system usually insist that copyrights and patents are necessary for creating the incentives to create or to innovate in a market. Yet, Raustiala and Sprigman carefully detail a bunch of different industries that don't have intellectual property protection, and over and over again, they see the same thing: more competition and more innovation, rather than less. For many years, we've highlighted the fact that it is frequently competition that drives innovation, yet so much of our public policy is based on the fallacy that it's monopoly rights that drive innovation. Thus, the Knockoff Economy is a really useful work in highlighting that perhaps the very premise that so much intellectual property protection is based on is wrong.

That's not to say, necessarily, that copyrights or patents have no place (though I know some of you do believe that) at all in modern society. But, at the very least, we should be looking at what is the actual impact of those laws, and are they really increasing innovation or doing something else entirely.

Filed Under: imitation, innovation, knockoff economy, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars From Gutenberg To Gates

from the the-pirates-go-way-back dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

This week, we've got a massive tome of a book in Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates by Adrian Johns. Weighing in at over 600 pages, this is a highly readable and entertaining look at the fact that the whole concept of "intellectual property piracy" (as much of a misleading term as that may be) didn't just start with the rise of the internet, but has been going back centuries.

This book really helps put into perspective the fights over the past few years, and shows how these battles concerning the freedom of information and knowledge go back pretty much since the dawn of the ability to create "content" in some fixed form. Even better, it also highlights how over and over and over again, what starts out as "piracy" actually turns out to be key innovations that drives the whole world of culture forward. It's the kind of perspective that is sorely needed -- but frequently lacking -- from debates over the topic. While I've been familiar with many historical examples of fights over "infringement," this book took my knowledge and understanding to new levels. It's packed with useful information.

Filed Under: adrian johns, history, intellectual property, piracy, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: The Internet Is My Religion

from the the-power-of-the-internet dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

Four years ago, long-time internet developer Jim Gilliam gave a really inspiring speech at Personal Democracy Forum about why the internet is his religion. It's a discussion about growing up in a devout religious family -- and then facing a series of harrowing health issues. And from that, he came to believe more and more in the power of the internet and what it does for people. If you haven't seen it, I recommend spending the 12 minutes it takes to watch it (or 6 minutes if you use YouTube's double speed feature): Now, Gilliam has come out with a book version of The Internet is My Religion, and it's absolutely worth reading, even if you've seen the video above. It goes into much more depth and is really, really moving. The Kindle version is just $2.99 as well. I'm obviously a big believer in the internet as well, but my life story and experience and perspective is very, very different from Gilliam's, and it's interesting to see how he's processed these ideas and the importance of the internet through his own, sometimes traumatic, life experiences. At times the book feels a little strange, in trying to put certain ideas into a religious framework, even to the point that some of it made me a bit uncomfortable, but the book certainly made me think and look at some things in a different way. It's a quick read, and for $3 ($13 for a paperback version), it's worth it.

Filed Under: internet is my religion, jim gilliam, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: The Lever of Riches

from the it's-about-economic-progress dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also help support Techdirt.

This week we have another one that's an older book, Joel Mokyr's The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress from 1992. Mokyr is an absolutely wonderful economic historian, and the Lever of Riches is one of my favorite books by him. If you want to understand the history of technological process, you owe it to yourself to read some of Mokyr's books -- and this is a good place to start. I've reread it many times, and have taken tons of notes on little passages and amazing factoids from history, that often remind me that the thoughts and battles today around innovation often have historical precedents.

For example, we've often talked about things like "infinite goods" and using such things to expand knowledge and innovation. But I had no idea that such thoughts go back long in history. In "Lever of Riches," I learned that Galileo himself once talked about how he hoped "in the invention of an infinitude of artifices which would allow us to enjoy without trouble the fruits of the earth and all its commodities." I may be strange in that I really like books looking at the history of economics and innovation, but this one definitely tops my list of recommendations.

Filed Under: economic history, innovation, joel mokyr, lever of riches, reading list, techdirt reading list