This book greatly benefited from a group of exceptionally kind and gifted friends and colleagues. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Craig Aaron and Karl Bode, who offered us tremendously helpful feedback on the entire book. Craig, who has been on the front lines of the “net neutrality wars” for many years, offered excellent suggestions, particularly with regards to our analysis of net neutrality activism in chapter 3. Karl Bode is one of the nation’s top tech policy journalists, and we were aided by the depth and breadth of his knowledge about net neutrality. Russell Newman, a leading scholar of net neutrality, also gave us encouraging and helpful feedback.
We especially thank Richard John and Dan Schiller, two of the foremost experts on the history of American telecommunications, for providing invaluable advice on much of the historical context that we discuss in chapter 1. Harold Feld, Christopher Terry, and Matt Wood generously shared their expertise with us on specific law and policy questions. Lauren Bridges, Chloé Nurik, and Pawel Popiel jumped in on several occasions with top-notch research assistance. Three anonymous reviewers provided incisive, challenging feedback that ultimately strengthened the final manuscript.
We are especially grateful to our amazing editor at Yale University Press, Joseph Calamia, who first approached us to write this book. In addition to keeping us on track and providing timely and perspicacious editorial advice, it was Joseph whose original vision made this book possible. We also would like to thank Robin DuBlanc for her masterful copyediting and extraordinary eye for detail, which brought discipline and structure to the manuscript. Any errors, of course, are solely on us.
We also thank our colleagues at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania who help create a supportive intellectual community for critical work. We thank our families for their love and understanding, especially in the face of tight deadlines. Victor thanks his brilliant wife Julilly Kohler-Hausmann and her always-supportive family, his heroic mother Kay Pickard, and his loving and lively children Zaden and Lilia (to whom he promised their names would always appear in his books). David thanks his life partner and fiancée Laura Ann Noboa. Her intellectual and spiritual companionship, boundless humor and wit, and enduring love make everything in this life sweeter. David also thanks his parents Edward and Ellen for their patience and unwavering support.
Finally, we would like to thank the many activists and concerned citizens in the United States and around the world who continue to fight for a more democratic communication system. It is their struggle we hope to honor with this book.