22 Jan 2019

Christopher Mitchell Reviews “Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution — And Why America Might Miss It” by Susan Crawford

by | Date: 22 Jan 2019 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband initiative at ILSR, reviews Susan Crawford’s new book “Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution — And Why America Might Miss It.” The book revolves around several communities that will be familiar to anyone following community networks, but even people with only a casual interest in how to achieve the best Internet access will recognize some of the community names in Susan’s latest book.… Read More
15 Jan 2013

Susan Crawford, Captive Audience, and How to Kill the Cable Monopoly

by | Date: 15 Jan 2013 | posted in: MuniNetworks, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Susan Crawford, author of the just-released Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age, is our guest for the 29th episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. A former adviser to President Obama, she has been a leading figure in the struggle to preserve an open Internet. Susan has long been … Read More
13 Jan 2013

Susan Crawford’s Captive Audience Book Reviewed

by | Date: 13 Jan 2013 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

I quickly read the just-released Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age, and came away quite excited by Susan Crawford’s new book. Susan Crawford has been supportive of community owned networks and a loud voice against the poor policies that have allowed a few massive cable and telephone companies to … Read More
24 Dec 2012

Tubes Offers an Internet Tour

by | Date: 24 Dec 2012 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

If you have been trying to find a book that offers an engaging explanation of how the Internet physically works and the various networks interconnect, search no more. Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet by Andrew Blum has done it. The author was featured on Fresh Air way back in May, but not … Read More
29 Sep 2012

New Book Investigates How Big Companies Like AT&T Rip Us Off

by | Date: 29 Sep 2012 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A  recent book by David Cay Johnston, The Fine Print, examines specifically how big companies have found ways to take advantage of the tax and regulatory systems to their benefit and to the detriment of consumers. The sad part – we don’t even realize it. Johnston discusses how big companies and their leaders exploit tax rules to re-distribute … Read More
17 Apr 2001

Report: Seeing the Light – Regaining Control of Our Electricity System

by | Date: 17 Apr 2001 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The California energy crisis is not simply about a lack of electricity it is about who owns the production and distribution of that electricity. As state after state agrees to deregulation, the utility industry is approaching a concentration not seen since the Power Trust of the 1930s. Seeing the Light urges us to change the rules now and create a future that includes affordable, locally-owned electricity. The book chronicles hopeful new developments and reminds us that the best way to prevent another crisis is to build a better system.… Read More
5 Nov 1983

Be Your Own Power Company

by | Date: 5 Nov 1983 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This book by David Morris (first published in 1983) was the first how-to book published after Congress ended the 100-year-old monopoly by utilities on the generation of power.  The book examines the technical and economic aspects of four small scale power technologies (photovoltaics, wind power, hydropower and onsite cogeneration) and offers advice on how to negotiate a contract for sale of on-site power to local utilities.… Read More

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