The Internet Upheaval

At the beginning of 2000, the U.S. economy was enjoying the longest period ofsustained growth and economic prosperity in its history. According to The Internet Upheaval, part ofthe explanation for this phenomenon is a consequence of how information technologies, in particularthe Internet, are upending fundamental economic and social structures.These research studies exploresome of the telecommunications policy ramifications of this upheaval. The first section addressesthe complexities of adapting the First Amendment to the Internet, the debate over the taxation ofe-commerce, and Internet users' attitudes toward online privacy. The second section looks at how theInternet has changed, or will change, traditional models used by economists, sociologists, andothers to explain how the world works. The third section discusses the need for new economic modelsto deal with the rapidly changing competitive landscape. Finally, the fourth section examineseconomic and policy aspects of universal service.Contributors Mark S. Ackerman, James C. Brent,Barbara A. Cherry, Benjamin M. Compaine, Lorrie Faith Cranor, Irina Dmitrieva, Robert S. Gazzale,Austan Goolsbee, Shane Greenstein, R. Glenn Hubbard, Jed Kelko, Steven G. Lanning, William Lehr,Douglas Lichtman, Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason, Paul Milgrom, Bridger Mitchell, Geoffrey Myers, W.Russell Neuman, Shawn R. O'Donnell, Joseph Reagle, Michael Riordan, Juan F. Riveros, Gregory L.Rosston, Padmanabhan Srinagesh, Linda O. Valenty, Bradley S. Wimmer.

Benjamin M. Compaine is Senior Research Affiliate at the Internet and Telecoms Convergence Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the editor of The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth? (MIT Press, 2001) and coauthor of Who Owns the Media?