The Open Internet Guy

A look at Columbia Law School's Tim Wu and his new book, The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires.

Tracing what he deems the 20th century's three great American information empires--Hollywood, the broadcast networks and AT&T--he details how early idealism and openness turned to corporate consolidation. That, in turn, quashed innovation, he asserts, and silenced multiple voices in favor of a few. Case in point: AT&T Bell Labs invented the telephone answering machine in 1934 but kept it under wraps. He says the company was worried people would abandon telephones out of fear their conversations would be taped. "AT&T suppressed anything that could threaten their empire," he adds. Wu is afraid that history will repeat itself. He points to Skype's free Internet calling, with its threat to the phone companies' most lucrative business. "If there were no net neutrality, Skype would have already been suppressed," he contends.