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In Search of Jefferson's Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace
In 1787, Thomas Jefferson, then the American Minister to France, had the "complete skeleton, skin & horns" of an American moose shipped to him in Paris and mounted in the lobby of his residence as a symbol of the vast possibilities contained in the strange and largely unexplored New World. Taking a cue from Jefferson's efforts, David Post, one of the nation's leading Internet scholars, here presents a pithy, colorful exploration of the still mostly undiscovered territory of cyberspace--what it is, how it works, and how it should be governed. What law should the Internet have, and who should make it? What are we to do, and how are we to think, about online filesharing and copyright law, about Internet pornography and free speech, about controlling spam, and online gambling, and cyberterrorism, and the use of anonymous remailers, or the practice of telemedicine, or the online collection and dissemination of personal information? How can they be controlled? Should they be controlled? And by whom? Post presents the Jeffersonian ideal--small self-governing units, loosely linked together as peers in groups of larger and larger size--as a model for the Internet and for cyberspace community self-governance. Deftly drawing on Jefferson's writings on the New World in Notes on the State of Virginia, Post draws out the many similarities (and differences) between the two terrains, vividly describing how the Internet actually functions from a technological, legal, and social perspective as he uniquely applies Jefferson's views on natural history, law, and governance in the New World to illuminate the complexities of cyberspace. In Search of Jefferson's Moose is a lively, accessible, and remarkably original overview of the Internet and what it holds for the future.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 18, 2018
An interesting book on the development of the internet, with a strained attempt to overlay Jeffersonian principles and ideals to help explain it all. By the third chapter, I was bored by the analogies. Shortly after, I was skipping the Jefferson parts altogether. This should have been a much more interesting book by Michael Lewis.
I also think Mr Post is inconsistent. He marvels, as he should, about the rapid and uncontrolled growth of the internet at its periphery, made possible and even encouraged by its design. Then when discussing law and cyberspace, he yearns for a cyber-specific, centralized legal framework, instead of the current regime which he call "unexceptionalist." Meaning, that what happens online is just as exposed to legal recourse as activities in the real world, in each physical jurisdiction. He argues that this is because the unexceptionalists are looking for consistency and accountability, but I don't see it that way. Take the French example. France bans the trade of Nazi paraphernalia and images for a reason that the country and its people find important. Why must the existence of the internet change those reasons or priorities?
I also think Mr Post is inconsistent. He marvels, as he should, about the rapid and uncontrolled growth of the internet at its periphery, made possible and even encouraged by its design. Then when discussing law and cyberspace, he yearns for a cyber-specific, centralized legal framework, instead of the current regime which he call "unexceptionalist." Meaning, that what happens online is just as exposed to legal recourse as activities in the real world, in each physical jurisdiction. He argues that this is because the unexceptionalists are looking for consistency and accountability, but I don't see it that way. Take the French example. France bans the trade of Nazi paraphernalia and images for a reason that the country and its people find important. Why must the existence of the internet change those reasons or priorities?
February 23, 2019
This delightful book is hard to classify. It draws comparisons from Jefferson's life and thought to the Internet, and does so in ways that are often insightful about both. I believe I learned more about Jefferson as a thinker from this book than from a biography of his I'd read earlier.
There are lots of little nuggets throughout the book, but the gist of the analogy makes the point that decentralized and low-level regulations are more effective than top-down ones, both in law and in Internet regulations.
There are lots of little nuggets throughout the book, but the gist of the analogy makes the point that decentralized and low-level regulations are more effective than top-down ones, both in law and in Internet regulations.
February 16, 2014
This is an excellent book - up there with Niall Ferguson's, Ascent of Money. David G. Post, the author, ties the ideas of Thomas Jefferson to the ideas that made the Internet so successful. Post also demonstrates an extensive knowledge of Jefferson, but not to the determent of the story.
Post shows how Jefferson's mapping of the navigable rivers in Virginia helped him to understand the critical importance of New Orleans and the Mississippi river. The map of the navigable rivers is compared to the connections of the internet. The non-hierarchical nature of the internet avoids a New Orleans type bottleneck.
Later Post divides the world into two types of people, "Jeffersonsians" and "Madisonians" with Post being a Jeffersonian. The key difference between these types of people is the need for control - particularly over other people. Jefferson's policy on expansion of the west demonstrates how his ideas that central control is not necessary works in action. His policies were based on self organization by the settlers of the west. The standards of the internet are based on this same self organizing principle. This principle allowed for both systems to scale rapidly. Interestingly, Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize in Economics recently for her work on similar ideas.
The book traces the development of the internet by describing the potential roadblocks to its ultimate success. This provides the reader with a deeper understanding of both the internet's development and the value of its bottom up approach to solving potential bottlenecks.
This is an excellent book on the development of the internet, on Jefferson's ideas, and on the "law" of cyberspace.
Post shows how Jefferson's mapping of the navigable rivers in Virginia helped him to understand the critical importance of New Orleans and the Mississippi river. The map of the navigable rivers is compared to the connections of the internet. The non-hierarchical nature of the internet avoids a New Orleans type bottleneck.
Later Post divides the world into two types of people, "Jeffersonsians" and "Madisonians" with Post being a Jeffersonian. The key difference between these types of people is the need for control - particularly over other people. Jefferson's policy on expansion of the west demonstrates how his ideas that central control is not necessary works in action. His policies were based on self organization by the settlers of the west. The standards of the internet are based on this same self organizing principle. This principle allowed for both systems to scale rapidly. Interestingly, Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize in Economics recently for her work on similar ideas.
The book traces the development of the internet by describing the potential roadblocks to its ultimate success. This provides the reader with a deeper understanding of both the internet's development and the value of its bottom up approach to solving potential bottlenecks.
This is an excellent book on the development of the internet, on Jefferson's ideas, and on the "law" of cyberspace.
January 19, 2010
Temple law professor David Post presents the thorny issue of cyberspace governance in a Jeffersonian frame, a unique approach that works as well as any to approach these challenging questions. Post (and the reader, presumably) wants to know to corral the increasingly chaotic world wide web, and uses Jefferson's 'Notes on the State of Virginia' as a model to address a similarly wide open cyberspace. The parallel is far from perfect, most significantly because in Jefferson's case we are dealing with physical space as opposed to an Internet which is essentially lines of code, but it provides a point of reference for what could easily turn into an annoyingly technical debate. Post doesn't really provide answers to the big questions of who, precisely, should set the rules for the internet, but comfortingly falls on the side of Jeffersonians who believe in the power of the individual user to dictate their own laws. Definitely recommended reading for internet users who want a "peek behind the curtain" to see the inner workings of the system we all benefit from.
October 4, 2010
When I first started reading this book, I was both curious and a little afraid (charts, equations, graphs, oh my). But the wonderful metaphor of Jefferson's moose along with the engaging discussion of Jefferson and his journals (how he traced rivers, thought about shell deposits, etc.) as an analogy to creators and innovators in cyberspace--well, it's kind of mind blowing. I'm not sure I would have read this if I hadn't been developing an online writing course in which students are using web 2.0 writing tools and thinking critically about how those tools effect their use of language, their writing process, etc. But there is no better way to learn about something than to prepare to teach it. If you are into American Studies or History, you will dig this. TED presentation by Lawrence Lessig on open source culture is a great companion to this.
November 18, 2012
I was a litte disappointed by this book because while the writing was engaging and the explanations of technical concepts (both legal and engineering) were lucid, even memorable, the connections between Jefferson's philosophy and the design and governance of the internet didn't enrich my understanding of either one. It was also puzzling to me why, in such a brief book, Post was obliged to put so much of the text into footnotes.
It works well as an introduction to the overall design and operation of the TCP/IP network, even better as an explanation of why people want to regulate the internet and the various schemes proposed, but not particularly well as a guide to Jefferson's philosophy.
It works well as an introduction to the overall design and operation of the TCP/IP network, even better as an explanation of why people want to regulate the internet and the various schemes proposed, but not particularly well as a guide to Jefferson's philosophy.
January 30, 2010
I read this over the summer of 2009. It's a wonderfully informative meditation on Thomas Jefferson's vision of governance, artfully threaded into a contemporary conversation on the Internet and its future. If you're a tech-politics nerd like me, you'll love the clear-headed description of the net's accidental success as the world's largest and more open network, and if you're a history buff, I suspect you'll still be surprised by how Post weaves Jefferson into the story.
August 30, 2011
I put this on my "Changed-my-Opinion-or-Blew-my-Mind" shelf for three reasons:
. It provides an interesting way to think about how the web actually functions.
. It makes one rethink the function, limits and necessity of the copyright in today's cyberspace world.
. It provides fascinating insight into the mind of Thomas Jefferson.
There is a lot of information packed into this book. It really doesn't give you answers, it just makes you think.
. It provides an interesting way to think about how the web actually functions.
. It makes one rethink the function, limits and necessity of the copyright in today's cyberspace world.
. It provides fascinating insight into the mind of Thomas Jefferson.
There is a lot of information packed into this book. It really doesn't give you answers, it just makes you think.
August 21, 2011
If you care about the Internet and information policy, read this book. Beyond the technical, legal and social policy issues that the author explores, the way he intertwines the story of Jefferson's exploration and mapping of the new world with society's parallel experience with the Internet is beautiful.
September 18, 2009
An unexpectedly smooth intertwining of topics. This book compares Jeffersonian ideals and life "under the hood" of the internet in a way that I never thought possible. This book, for me, was full of the things "you don't know you don't know". Well worth a read.
October 31, 2009
I came across this book while browsing local borders ... Interesting book, I'd actually rate it 3 1/2 stars. Although the author himself admits that he couldn't decide if the book is about Jefferson or cyberspace it was still a good read.
December 2, 2014
great explanation of the fundamental structure of the Internet, in addition to being an excellent primer to the motivations and main ideas of Thomas Jefferson
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews