Dear Colleagues, This is a message to announce the Release Date of 'A History of the Internet and the Digital Future' ... Release in the UK and Ireland by Reaktion Books on 20 October 2010, and in the United States by the University of Chicago Press on 15 November 2010. I am delighted to report that Marc Benioff (Chairman and founder of Salesforce.com), Prof Tim Wu (Columbia Law School), and Prof Jonathan Zittrain (Berkman Centre, Harvard Law School) have endorsed the book. Other endorsements come from Suzanne Dirks (Leader, Global Centre for Economic Development, IBM Institute for Business Value) and Phil Madsen (online politics pioneer and manager of the Jesse Ventura campaign '98). Read their endorsements at the pre-order link on AMAZON.COM http://t.co/P9sxD1x This book relies on primary material and first hand interviews and may be of interest to AIR readers. Here is a little of what to expect in the book (summary blurb): A great adjustment in human affairs is underway. Political, commercial and cultural life is changing from the centralized, hierarchical and standardized structures of the industrial age to something radically different: the economy of the emerging digital era. A History of the Internet and the Digital Future tells the story of the development of the Internet from the 1950s to the present, and examines how the balance of power has shifted between the individual and the state in the areas of censorship, copyright infringement, intellectual freedom and terrorism and warfare. Johnny Ryan explains how the Internet has revolutionized political campaigns; how the development of the World Wide Web enfranchised a new online population of assertive, niche consumers; and how the dot-com bust taught smarter firms to capitalize on the power of digital artisans. In the coming years, platforms such as the iPhone and Android rise or fall depending on their treading the line between proprietary control and open innovation. The trends of the past may hold out hope for the record and newspaper industry. From the government-controlled systems of the ColdWar to today's move towards cloud computing, user-driven content and the new global commons, this book reveals the trends that are shaping the businesses, politics, and media of the digital future. Johnny Ryan -- A History of the Internet and the Digital Future (my next book) http://johnnyryan.wordpress.com/books/net-history-2010/ London: Reaktion, 20 September 2010 Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 20 November 2010 Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnyryan1