| Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age | 
| Authors: Jonathan E. Nuechterlein, Philip J. Weiser
Publisher: The MIT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy New: $13.89
You Save: $9.11 (40%)
Buy New/Used from $11.98
Avg. Customer Rating:   (5 reviews)
Sales Rank: 134690
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 702
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 6 x 1.6
ISBN: 026264066X
Dewey Decimal Number: 384.0973
EAN: 9780262640664
ASIN: 026264066X
Publication Date: March 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
With a new preface for the paperback edition
Telecommunications policy profoundly affects the economy and our everyday lives. Yet accounts of important telecommunications issues tend to be either superficial (and inaccurate) or mired in jargon and technical esoterica. In Digital Crossroads, Jonathan Nuechterlein and Philip Weiser offer a clear, balanced, and accessible analysis of competition policy issues in the telecommunications industry. After giving a big picture overview of the field, they present sharply reasoned analyses of the major technological, economic, and legal developments confronting communications policymakers in the twenty-first century.
Since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, when Congress fundamentally reoriented the existing regulatory scheme, no book has cogently explained the intricacies of telecommunications competition policy in the Internet age for general readers, students, and practitioners alike. Digital Crossroads meets this need, focusing on the regulatory dimensions of competition in wireline and wireless telephone service; competition among rival platforms for broadband Internet service and video distribution; and the Internet's transformation of every aspect of the telecommunications industry, particularly through the emergence of "voice over Internet protocol" (VoIP). The authors explain not just the complicated legal issues governing the industry, but also the rapidly changing technological and economic context in which these issues arise. The book includes extensive endnotes and tables that cover relevant court decisions, FCC orders, and academic commentaries; a glossary of acronyms; a statutory addendum containing the most important provisions of federal telecommunications law; and two appendixes with information on more specialized topics. Supplementary materials for students are available at http://spot.colorado.edu/~weiserpj.
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| Customer Reviews:
 ok book for a summe class August 25, 2008
the book had been written in,advertised as almost new, but nice book got it for a summer class
 Good March 2, 2006
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I had to read this for a graduate class. It is written in a conversational manner. It does explain the topics in reasonable voice. Overall not a bad purchase. It is not something that I will keep but it is good for a library to have.
Telecommunications for non-specialists August 30, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
In Digital Crossroads, the authors, both lawyers with experience in telecommunications, offer a readable guide to the complex regulatory policies shaping electronic communication. Starting with the economic principles that have guided government agencies through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, they give a basic history of the development of wireline communication, primarily through telephone, and explain how the advent of wireless technology via radio, television, cell phones, and the Internet have affected policies and practices. Although it is not easy reading, both the technical and legal aspects of communication are made clear even to a reader who is neither a lawyer nor an engineer. The policies discussed in this book will affect every citizen who cares about obtaining and communicating information to individuals and groups. Understanding the background given here, will help individuals follow the current legislative news as Congress revises the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This is a book many community groups and activists should read and discuss.
That rare combination: comprehensive and accessible May 23, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Digital Crossroads is that rare combination, a comprehensive and accurate -- but well-written and accessible -- presentation of the state of the technology, economics, and law driving today's complex telecommunications industry. I used it in my Albany Law School seminar on Telecommunications Law for the 21st Century, and students found it highly accessible--especially the technology chapters. The book is a real accomplishment: comprehensive, thoughtful, and forward-looking, without being swept away by the latest gimmick off the shelf. It is also an extremely well written and organized book, clear and authoritative. In addition, for either the practitioner or academic, the inclusion of relevant sections of the 1996 Telecommunications Act adds value and convenience. Making coherent sense of this industry, its history and trajectory, is a daunting challenge and one the authors met, apparently without flinching.
Telecom Law for the Layman, Clearly Explained March 26, 2005
If you need a current understanding of the law and politics around telecommunications today, this is THE book you need. While long, it is clearly written, concise, lucid, and technically excellent. Even with extensive experience in this domain, I found this book to be the most cogent and readable summary of the issues today, and I learned a lot in the process.
Jonathan Nuechterlein and Philip Weiser are practicing lawyers that have taken the time to learn enough of the engineering and technology of the telecommunications world to be able to explain the intersection of law, politics, and technology to anyone with an interest in the topic. Their goal with this book is to lay a foundation for revisions to US (and global) laws as they apply to voice, data, and video communications distribution networks. While they do not have the answers yet (no one does), they lucidly and often humorously explain why today's laws and regulations are increasingly obsolete. In the process, the authors describe how technology and software are interacting to force the government to abolish the regulatory divisions between the voice and video worlds.
Nuechterlein and Weiser outline a four layer model for communications policies of the future, dividing the domain into 1) the physical infrastructure layer, 2) a logical connectivity layer, 3) an applications layer delivering voice, video, and data services to end users, and 4) a content layer that addresses publicly visible content in any format. They illustrate how this model can be used to devise laws that can effectively achieve the goals of government, and, more importantly, how the model can demonstrate the weaknesses of existing and proposed laws and rules. As they do this, they outline the thinking from the best minds in this domain as to the direction that Congress and the FCC should take in the process of revising our laws on the Internet, traditional voice telephony, VoIP, satellite communications systems, cable TV and the broadcast TV industry.
For this reason and others, I highly recommend this to anyone needing to understand the current regulatory environment surrounding the Internet and telecommunications generally. You will not go wrong with this volume.
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