Addressing the World - by Erica Schlesinger Wass (Hardcover)

About the Book

Few people think of an Internet domain name like .us or .in as anything other than an address-when, in fact, it often serves as a roadmap to national identities and priorities. Addressing the World looks behind eleven of the 240 global domain names, from the United States and ...

Book Synopsis

Few people think of an Internet domain name like .us or .in as anything other than an address-when, in fact, it often serves as a roadmap to national identities and priorities. Addressing the World looks behind eleven of the 240 global domain names, from the United States and Australia to Moldova and East Timor. Stories and first-person accounts by activists, journalists, Internet administrators, lawyers, and academics examine the sociological, historical, political, and technological development of Internet country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).

Review Quotes

Addressing the World is a sophisticated look at a poorly understood, if key, aspect of the Internet. Erica Schlesinger Wass and her contributors do an excellent job of delineating the political and commercial forces that shape a global medium in a world still dominated by nation states.

This book offers a fresh and insightful perspective on the Internet and its implications for life in the global village. Taking an international perspective, the chapters provide a combination of original research and theory to explain the nature and impact of the Internet on diverse populations around the world. I recommend this book as a must-read for those interested in either the Internet or its global consequences.

This volume provides the next generation of scholars with a useful base of international information on which to chart the politics and commodification of the Internet. Its information and detail are a welcome contribution to the field. It challenges assumptions about not only how the Internet operates but also what its naming conventions mean for issues of local and national identity, for access to free and uncensored communication capabilities, and for matters of political-and commercial-expression.

About the Author

Erica Schlesinger Wass is a journalist and an attorney in New York City. She writes about the Internet and the social implications of its use and governance. In addition to being a lecturer in the Strategic Communications Program at Columbia University, Wass is a frequent classroom guest lecturer on Internet law issues.