Saturday, April 06, 2002

In his new book, Lawrence Lessig warns of threats to innovation as the Internet becomes

"The next threat to the Internet

Legal scholar warns of challenges to innovation"

BOOK REVIEW
By Anick Jesdanun
ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://www.msnbc.com/news/681181.asp?0na=x2236140-

In his new book, Lawrence Lessig warns of threats to innovation as the Internet becomes increasingly controlled by businesses, the technology they develop and the laws they push.

In his 1999 book, "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace," Lessig warns of threats to free speech and privacy as the Internet becomes increasingly controlled by businesses, the technology they develop and the laws they push.

"The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World," published by Random House, is in many respects a sequel: Lessig argues that innovation is under threat by those same efforts.

One tendency Lessig worries about is the development of software techniques that would let Internet service providers prioritize — and perhaps charge more for — certain traffic over others.

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