Digital Phoenix: Why the Information Economy Collapsed and How It Will Rise Again

Bruce Abramson received a PhD in computer science from Columbia University and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. He has held positions with the faculties of the University of Southern California and Carnegie Mellon. His consulting and legal practice, based in Washington, DC, focuses on issues related to the digital economy. Abramson is also the author of The Informationist blog, which chronicles "life during the transition from industrial age to information age."

"It's the best non-technical account I've read of how network economies do and do not work in the information age. I'll be assigning it to my students - as far as I can see, it's the best and most complete account available." -- Crooked Timber "Abramson gives an intricate but lucid and engaging account of these controversies, illuminating the interplay of copyright and patent law, technology and marketing. He makes a case both for the government's role in policing abuses of intellectual property rights Microsoft, he believes, is indeed a monopolistand for a relaxed intellectual property regime that fosters competition and innovation." -- Publishers Weekly "...guides the reader step by step through key technological events, with particular attention to intellectual property law and the evolving concepts of network economics, producing a solid guide to the tech age." -- Bill S. Kowinski, San Francisco Chronicle "Digital Phoenix is a brilliant explanation of the law, economics, and technology behind the information technology revolution-- in my view, the best book on this topic on the market." --Robert Litan, Vice President, Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation "Bruce Abramson has produced a road map for the information revolution that nimbly weaves together insights about the relationships among technology, law, economics, and politics. He's a fantastic storyteller, capturing the details and significance of such important moments as the Microsoft antitrust case, the Napster phenomenon, and the battles over free software, while retaining the swashbuckling flavor of each of these digital adventures." --Jonathan Zittrain, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School "The Microsoft antitrust trial, the ascent of Linux, the rise and fall of Napster--Abramson not only masterfully retells each of these foundational stories of the digital economy, he explains why they mattered, how they fit into the 'New Economy,' and what they portend for the