Businessman, venture capitalist, and former chairman of the Federal Communication Corporation during the Obama administration, Tom Wheeler is the author of several books including, most recently, From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future (Brookings, 2019). He resides in Washington, DC.

Lax regulation has allowed the most powerful tech companies to become 'pseudo-governments' imposing their will on the public, according to this impassioned broadside. Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration, draws parallels between the Gilded Age and the present, noting that the income inequality and market concentration that characterize both eras were ameliorated in the 19th century by 'antitrust law and regulatory oversight.' Advocating for the use of similar tools to curtail the power of Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft, Wheeler warns that these companies have been implementing invasive data collecting and other problematic practices with few means for users to push back. Wheeler persuasively makes the case that tech CEOs can’t be trusted to regulate themselves.... It’s a potent primer on the need to rein in big tech.

• PrefaceSection One: Our Moment In HistoryChapter One – Echoes Of The Gilded AgeChapter Two – This Is Not The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” Chapter Three – Closing The Open InternetChapter Four – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! Section Two: Who Makes The Rules?Chapter Five – When Innovators Make The Rules Chapter Six – The World’s Greatest Business ModelChapter Seven – Where Is The Watchdog? Section Three: Reasserting The Public InterestChapter Eight – Designing Behavioral ExpectationsChapter Nine – Privacy By DesignChapter Ten – Competition By DesignChapter Eleven – Truth And Trust By DesignSection Four: Consequences We Control Chapter Twelve – Time To Make History AgainAcknowledgments

Businessman, venture capitalist, and former chairman of the Federal Communication Corporation during the Obama administration, Tom Wheeler is the author of several books including, most recently, From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future (Brookings, 2019). He resides in Washington, DC.

Lax regulation has allowed the most powerful tech companies to become 'pseudo-governments' imposing their will on the public, according to this impassioned broadside. Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration, draws parallels between the Gilded Age and the present, noting that the income inequality and market concentration that characterize both eras were ameliorated in the 19th century by 'antitrust law and regulatory oversight.' Advocating for the use of similar tools to curtail the power of Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft, Wheeler warns that these companies have been implementing invasive data collecting and other problematic practices with few means for users to push back. Wheeler persuasively makes the case that tech CEOs can’t be trusted to regulate themselves.... It’s a potent primer on the need to rein in big tech.

• PrefaceSection One: Our Moment In HistoryChapter One – Echoes Of The Gilded AgeChapter Two – This Is Not The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” Chapter Three – Closing The Open InternetChapter Four – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! Section Two: Who Makes The Rules?Chapter Five – When Innovators Make The Rules Chapter Six – The World’s Greatest Business ModelChapter Seven – Where Is The Watchdog? Section Three: Reasserting The Public InterestChapter Eight – Designing Behavioral ExpectationsChapter Nine – Privacy By DesignChapter Ten – Competition By DesignChapter Eleven – Truth And Trust By DesignSection Four: Consequences We Control Chapter Twelve – Time To Make History AgainAcknowledgments

Businessman, venture capitalist, and former chairman of the Federal Communication Corporation during the Obama administration, Tom Wheeler is the author of several books including, most recently, From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future (Brookings, 2019). He resides in Washington, DC.

Lax regulation has allowed the most powerful tech companies to become 'pseudo-governments' imposing their will on the public, according to this impassioned broadside. Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration, draws parallels between the Gilded Age and the present, noting that the income inequality and market concentration that characterize both eras were ameliorated in the 19th century by 'antitrust law and regulatory oversight.' Advocating for the use of similar tools to curtail the power of Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft, Wheeler warns that these companies have been implementing invasive data collecting and other problematic practices with few means for users to push back. Wheeler persuasively makes the case that tech CEOs can’t be trusted to regulate themselves.... It’s a potent primer on the need to rein in big tech.

• PrefaceSection One: Our Moment In HistoryChapter One – Echoes Of The Gilded AgeChapter Two – This Is Not The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” Chapter Three – Closing The Open InternetChapter Four – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! Section Two: Who Makes The Rules?Chapter Five – When Innovators Make The Rules Chapter Six – The World’s Greatest Business ModelChapter Seven – Where Is The Watchdog? Section Three: Reasserting The Public InterestChapter Eight – Designing Behavioral ExpectationsChapter Nine – Privacy By DesignChapter Ten – Competition By DesignChapter Eleven – Truth And Trust By DesignSection Four: Consequences We Control Chapter Twelve – Time To Make History AgainAcknowledgments