Pax technica: how the internet of things may set us free or lock us up

349 Pages·2015·1.26 MB·English

by  Howard, Philip N

pax technica
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philip n.
howard
pax technica
how the
internet of
things may
set us free or
lock us up
new haven
& london
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Published with assistance from the Mary Cady Tew Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2015 by Philip N. Howard. All rights reserved. This book may not
be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond
that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the
publishers.
An online version of the work is made available under a Creative Commons
license for use that is noncommercial and not derivative. The terms of the
license are set forth at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
For more information about a digital copy of the work, please see the author’s
website: http://philhoward.org/.
Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational,
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Set in Joanna type by Newgen North America, Austin, Texas.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN 978-0-300-19947-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
Catalogue records for this book are available from the Library of Congress and
the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
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For Gina Neff, who makes things possible and worthwhile.
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contents
Preface xi
Introduction xix
1. Empire of Connected Things 1
Carna Surveils the Realm, 2
What’s in a Pax? 4
The Demographics of Diffusion, 8
Information Technology and the New World Order, 11
Pax Romana, Britannica, Americana, 14
The Balaceras of Monterrey, 17
The Internet Is Also a Surveillance State, 22
The Wars Only Bots Will Fight, 27
The Political Empire of Connected Things, 33
2. Internet Interregnum 37
Discovering the UglyGorilla, 38
Devices of Hope, 42
The Demographics of Diffusion, 44
The Zapatistas Reboot History, 47
From Gold to Bits, 53
States Don’t Own It, Though They Fight Hard to Control It, 56
vii
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contents
A New Kind of New Order, 59
But It’s Not a Westphalian—or Feudal—World, 62
3. New Maps for the New World 67
Mapping Hispaniola, 68
Dictators and Dirty Networks, 71
Mubarak’s Choice, 73
We Are All Laila, 75
Governments, Bad and Fake, 79
The Dictator’s Digital Dilemma, 84
Finding Kibera, 88
Dirty Networks, Collapsing, 91
The Democracy of Devices, 99
4. Five Premises for the Pax Technica 107
Learning from the Internet Interregnum, 108
First Premise: The Internet of Things Is Being Weaponized, 112
Second Premise: People Use Devices to Govern, 119
Third Premise: Digital Networks Weaken Ideologies, 123
Fourth Premise: Social Media Solve Collective Action Problems, 136
Fifth Premise: Big Data Backs Human Security, 139
Defi ning the Pax Technica, 145
5. Five Consequences of the Pax Technica 148
Empire of Bits—A Scenario, 149
First Consequence: Networked Devices and the Stability of
Cyberdeterrence, 153
Second Consequence: Governance Through the Internet of Things, 157
Third Consequence: From a Clash of Civilizations to a Competition
Between Device Networks, 162
viii
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contents
Fourth Consequence: Connective Action and Crypto Clans, 168
Fifth Consequence: Connective Security and Quality of Life, 175
The Downside of Connective Security, 179
6. Network Competition and the Challenges Ahead 183
My Girlfriend Went Shopping . . . in China, 184
Authoritarian, but Social, 196
Bots and Simulations, 202
DRM for the Material World? 211
Other Challenges (That Are Lesser Challenges), 214
The Downside of Up, 218
Rival Devices on Competing Networks, 220
7. Building a Democracy of Our Own Devices 224
Your Coffee Betrays You, 225
Internet Succession: Computers, Mobiles, Things, 229
The World Ahead, 232
The Hope and Instability of Hackers and Whistle Blowers, 235
Firing the Social Scientists—and Training New Ones, 240
Putting the Civic into the Internet of Things, Domestically, 242
Device Networks and Foreign Affairs, 249
How Can You Thrive in the Pax Technica? 254
The Promise of the Pax, 255
Notes 259
Glossary 295
Acknowledgments 299
Index 303
ix
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