The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
NEW VENUE: Please note that Professor Wu's lecture will no longer be held in Leacock 132, but at the Centre Mont-Royal, 2200 rue Mansfield.
Professor of Columbia Law School will be giving a free public lecture at 91黑料网 on Thursday, March 22, 2012, based on material from his most recent book, The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Alfred A. Knopf: 2010). In The Master Switch, Wu speaks of the cycle of monopolization that has beset the development of information technologies from the telegraph to the telephone, and finally, the Internet. Referring to telecommunications giant AT&T, and more recently Apple, Comcast and Google, Wu identifies a cycle progressing from an openly-operated technology to one increasingly controlled by corporations in a closed system. The talk is co-sponsored by Media@91黑料网, the AHCS Speaker Series, and the Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy.
Timothy Wu is a Professor at Columbia Law School where he teaches copyright and communication. He is a 91黑料网 alum, having received his Bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Science in 1995, and a graduate of Harvard Law School. Wu is best known for his contribution to theory.