The Journal of Cyber-Policy cited my book in its top 10 must-reads for 2016, along with Tim Wu's The Master Switch and Robert McChesney's Digital Disconnect, and Milton Mueller's Networks and States. I am very proud to be in this esteemed company!

The Closing of the Net
Monica Horten, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2016.

This book takes the reader through the intricate net of lobbying, underpinning core internet policy issues such as government surveillance, net neutrality, online piracy and the TTIP agreement. Analysing how different corporations wield influence on governments, the book unveils how private 'structural power' orientates public policy and is preserved through the implementation of large-scale monitoring, filtering and blocking. The book documents the tendency towards an increasingly closed and heavily monitored internet ecosystem, where private interests frequently override individuals' rights. The analysis of the cooperation between business players and public powers is both fascinating and alarming. The connection between apparently unrelated agendas becomes increasingly evident, as does the fact that state and corporate interests often coincide and individuals are usually the losers of this power game.

The Editorial Team (2016) Top ten must-reads: the editorial team choices, Journal of Cyber Policy, 1:2, 278-280, DOI: 10.1080/23738871.2016.1247902

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