Andrew Keen - The Cult of the Amateur: How Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, and the Rest of Today's User-generated Media Are Destroying Our Economy, Our Culture, and Our Values

As an Internet entrepreneur and Silicon Valley insider, Andrew Keen seems like the last person to attack the sudden flourishing of Web 2.0--YouTube, Wikipedia, Google, and the blogosphere. But in his powerfully argued and provocative book, THE CULT OF THE AMATEUR, Keen shows how our rampant disregard for intellectual property rights, and the "flattening" of the playing-field by giving everyone the same status as experts, has actually undermined the artists, musicians, and thinkers who contribute the most to modern culture. In a time of widespread cheerleading for the potential of the Internet, Keen's critical rhetoric, supported by convincing research and anecdotes, is a much-needed counterpoint--and it has attracted the attention and praise of some of the most prominent proponents of the Internet age, including Larry Sanger, the co-founder of Wikipedia.