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| Susan Crawford. Captive audience: The telecom industry and monopoly power in the new gilded age. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2013. cloth, 360 pp., 9780300153132 ISBN 978–0–300–15313–2, US$30.00. Yale University Press: http://yalepress.yale.edu/ |
“John D. Rockefeller would love such brutal elegance,” posits Susan Crawford, with regard to the strong–arm tactics employed by cable television provider–cum–ISP Comcast to control users’ choices, information experiences, and ability to grow to a monopoly power in the telecommunications business (p. 122). Crawford’s Captive audience: The telecom industry and monopoly power in the new gilded age is part history lesson, part indictment of the federal government for its inability to regulate cable Internet service providers (ISPs), and most certainly a call to action for all U.S. citizens concerned over access to and quality of Internet service.
The thesis of the work is this — due to a combination of deregulation, vertical integration through mergers, collusion with regard to market segmentation, and a revolving door between the leadership in the FCC and the telecommunications industry, the U.S. will continue to experience technological stagnation in terms of the network infrastructure and the two–fold problem of costly Internet access for the haves, and lack of access for the have–nots and rural populations. Quite succinctly, Crawford states that the U.S. is witnessing “... a failure in policy [which will likely] be a drag on America’s success for generations” (p. 13).
For those unfamiliar with her, Susan Crawford may well be the foremost authority on this topic. Crawford is currently a professor at Cardozo Law School, visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, and the University of Michigan, and was named Special Assistant to the President for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy in 2009. In addition to her work as co–leader of the FCC Transition Team between the Bush and Obama administrations, she is currently a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Advisory Council on Technology and Innovation.
Crawford begins this work by exploring the development of the first American monopolies and trusts — found in the railroad and oil industries — and how they were eventually reined in and regulated by the federal government. She then moves on to examine other monopolies such as telegraph and telephone services, and eventually arrives at the uniting concept of common carriage. From here, the author deftly tells the story of the American cable industry — with an emphasis on Comcast — from its humble beginnings to its current behemoth status, paying special regard to the means by which the industry has manipulated the FCC and federal government as a whole. Essentially, Crawford establishes the common carrier concept to explain how cable ISPs managed to escape being labeled as such, no matter how well the proverbial shoe fits.
After discussing the Comcast and NBC Universal merger and its importance in allowing one company to control both the information conduit and content — a frightening precedent for anyone who values the openness of the Internet — Crawford arrives at her proposed solution: municipal open access and non–discriminatory fiber optic networks. Internet access would then be a public utility akin to water and electricity. Further, she argues that high–speed Internet access in an information society and economy is as vital to American success as electricity was a little over a century ago.
While the author is by no means a neutral party when retelling the history of cable ISPs (her acerbic tone is often impossible to ignore), the research is sound and multifaceted. Her sources include FCC documentation and communiqués, trade publications, testimony from the Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary; she even goes so far as to cite dialogue from the meta–aware NBC sitcom 30 Rock.
This book is extremely readable and written in very clear terms. As such, its content should be accessible to those not overly technical or up to date with the latest policy developments in Washington. Not only does Crawford adeptly argue her points, but her descriptions of the key players in the story are vivid. With regard to the Subcommittee hearings in particular, the author paints a picture that captures the dynamics and the mood of the room in such a way that may make some readers grimace.
Captive audience provides readers with an understanding of the history of the cable industry, how it became America’s only source of high–speed Internet, and how it has come to be treated so dissimilarly from other common carrier services. Further, readers are provided a laundry list of reasons as to why they are paying more for an inferior product than their counterparts in other developed nations. In addition, this work sheds greater light on some of the problems facing Net neutrality. Lastly, the work is a call to action; as Crawford points out, the solution that may be the best for consumers (however difficult or unlikely) is the one that starts at a local, community level.
This work is recommended for information professionals, Net neutrality advocates, and anyone interested in access to the Internet — especially those prone to griping about slow upload speeds and their Comcast bill. — Jason D. Nosek.
Copyright © 2013, First Monday.
Review of Captive audience: The telecom industry and monopoly power in the new gilded age
by Jason D. Nosek.
First Monday, Volume 18, Number 7 - 1 July 2013
http://www.firstmonday.dk/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4788/3713
doi:10.5210/fm.v18i7.4788
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