information services industry

Elegantly tracing the intellectual history of computer science, Foer puts the DNA of the very idea of "tech" under the microscope. Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, he argues, are breaking laws intended to protect intellectual property and privacy. This is not the path towards freedom and prosperity, but the total automation and homogenization of our social, political, and intellectual lives.

Examines the business strategies of four influential companies, including Amazon.com, Apple Computer, Inc., Facebook, and Google.

Elegantly tracing the intellectual history of computer science, Foer puts the DNA of the very idea of "tech" under the microscope. Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, he argues, are breaking laws intended to protect intellectual property and privacy. This is not the path towards freedom and prosperity, but the total automation and homogenization of our social, political, and intellectual lives.

The Committee is an international cabal, an online oligarchy, that is nearing its goal of privatizing all information. Standing in the cabal's way is Dear Diary, an online underground battling to keep information free for everyone. Into the middle of this shadow conflict come Leila Majnoun, Leo Crane, and Mark Dveraux. Mark doesn't know it, but he is working for the Committee. Leo, formerly Mark's friend, writes a scathing review of Mark's online work, but the Committee deletes his words. Across the world, Leila discovers the Committee's ambitions could threaten the lives of her loved ones.