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Following is a review by Karin Geiselhart of Netizens.
It will appear in an upcoming issue of Internet Research.
 
Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet
 
by Michael and Ronda Hauben
IEEE Computer Society, 1997, ISBN 0-8186-7706-6.
345 pages
 
reviewed by Karin Geiselhart
k.geiselhart@student.canberra.edu.au
 
Netizens delivers on its title. It provides a chronicle of the 
development of the Internet, and particularly the venerable part 
called Usenet. It is almost an ethnographic study, as the authors
are also long term participants on Usenet. Not surprisingly, the 
book reflects some of the character and contains some of the 
benefits and drawbacks of Usenet itself, as many of the chapters 
were first posted on the Internet. There are repetitions, homely 
but sincere writing, overlapping themes and a good dose of 
acronymic jargon in some places which might deter the 
uninitiated. Some sections, replete with copies of postings or 
appended with detailed notes, almost look like what we have 
become so used to scanning through on our screens. 
 
But beyond these idiosyncrasies, Netizens is a book which 
champions grass roots democracy. It speaks for and through the 
on-line citizens who helped shape the Net in its early days. The 
unfolding of ARPANET and unix is much more than a story of 
problem solving and the scientific method applied to new realms 
of computing. Like a fairy tale or myth we can enjoy hearing in 
many different versions, the birth of the Internet goes deep into 
our cultural psyche. It embodies what we want to believe about 
technological change: that it has loftier intent along with 
entrepreneurial energy. Of course, this is a very American story, 
so it is appropriate that it be told from the Haubens' American,
yet gently challenging perspective. 
 
This is where Netizens is most interesting and highlights a theme 
which is today much muted: the role of blue sky research and 
government funding. Their history assembles detailed quotes from 
many of the pioneers. Back in 1968 Licklider and Taylor, of the 
Advanced Research Projects Agency, envisaged a network of 
computers which would move communication capabilities far beyond 
the linear transportation model of sender to receiver which 
prevailed at the time. They understood the potential for users 
being "active participants in an ongoing process", and foresaw 
the development of communities based on affinity and common 
interests. 
 
These were not visions with immediate commercial payback, and 
perhaps they never will be. The technical difficulties in 
establishing such a global network could only be handled through 
substantial amounts of non-profit funding, which is what ARPANET 
was given. One of the twists in the Internet story which lifts it 
to the level of near myth is the irony that the project had a 
military goal, but this required linking civilians so they could 
share information. The founding of unix had almost religious, 
and certainly philosophical undertones. The Haubens refer to 
descriptions of its development as "a system around which a 
fellowship would form." Here they touch on another grand theme of 
the Internet, reflexive progression. They ask, with innocent and 
irrefutable logic: "How else should one go about designing 
communications programs but on an operating system designed with 
the basic principle of encouraging communication?"
 
Thus emerged a system which put power in citizens' fingertips and
minds and eyes, provided a many to many capability, and raised 
the possibility of a read and write media as a counter to global 
leviathans. In their chapter on the effect of the net on 
professional news media, they again present real people's views 
and experiences to document their theoretical position. I must 
admit to a tiny thrill of recognition and pride, when I saw a 
quote from an Australian journalist of my acquaintance. And the 
pleasure of reading their book was enhanced by having met the 
Haubens at a conference or two. Probably nothing can replace face 
to face friendliness over a shared meal. 
 
But they could not be further from an academic elite. Although 
Ronda in particular draws on seventeenth and eighteenth century 
economic works and philosophers, the book never loses sight of 
its democratic intent. A further theme of universal access 
penetrates each part of this history: past, present, future, and 
theoretical framework.  
 
While the comparison between the Internet and the invention of 
the printing press is now commonplace, they flesh it out with
succinct and pertinent quotes from Elizabeth Eisenstein's seminal 
book on the printing press in early modern Europe. And always 
highlighting the role of both technologies in opening new domains 
of learning, sharing, participating. 
 
Unfortunately, one of their own examples shows the naivete in 
hoping for empowerment through technology alone. In late 1994, 
the National Telecommunications Information Administration held a 
virtual conference to consider future directions for the US 
infrastructure. There was an outpouring of support for the social 
benefits of the Internet from all corners of the country. 
Eloquent arguments were made for universal access. However, the 
public's input to NTIA was not acted on, and the US backbone of 
the Internet was privatised in May 1995. Another sad coda to that 
episode is that, according to the Haubens, only 80 public access 
sites to the on line conference were made available in libraries 
or other public places. 
 
Correctly, they note that "One of the most difficult dilemmas of 
our times is how to deal with the discrepancy between the need 
for more public input into policy development and the actions of 
government officials who ignore that input."
 
These tensions, like the theme of universal access, remain 
critical, even as electronic commerce spreads, supposedly in 
response to "market forces." By offering us detailed insights 
into the early days of these still unresolved issues, Netizens 
reminds us that technology should serve the people. 
 
They include part of a poem by Vint Cerf, another founding father 
of ARPANET. Written in the late 60s, it reveals his recognition 
of the intimate play between art and science, linked by a common 
thirst for knowledge. I could not help but remember his words as 
a keynote speaker at the Internet Conference in Montreal, nearly 
30 years later, in response to a question from Scott Aiken, one 
of the founders of the Minnesota e-democracy project: "Democracy 
doesn't scale."
 
Netizens is an affirmation by the authors on behalf of all their 
fellow Usenet contributors, and all of us who have benefitted in 
some way from the altruism and free information which flows 
across the Internet. Theirs is an optimistic mantra: democracy 
can scale.

-------------------
Karin Geiselhart
PhD student
Faculty of Communication
University of Canberra
http://student.canberra.edu.au/~u833885/home.htm