Steal this Idea - The Corporate Confiscation of Creativity by Michael PerelmanLeftist economist takes umbrage at intellectual property expansion out of control. Quite strong factually although something of a tendency to dwell on the obviously extreme, rather than the naturalisation of property.

Smart Mobs by Howard RheingoldUseful introduction to the phenomena I'm working on myself. How computation intensive devices make new forms of collective action possible through co-operation. Opening the book the fear loomed that futurist wankology would suffuse every page, but au contraire: "The 'killer aps' of tomorropw's mobile infocom industry won't be hardware devices or software programs but social practices." at xii.

"When I examine the potential of new technologies, I have tried to avoid the dangers of "the rhetoric of the technological sublime," in which the miraculous properies of new tools are extolled to the exclusion of critical examination of their shadow sides." (xxi)

A perspective that pleases my palate, I look forward to reading the rest of it and should really get around writing a review. See the associated blog.

9.00 Fuckin' hell, it's only the third page and he's gotten in a reference to Society of the Spectacle. Makes me feel like an ideological early adopter.