How can we preserve free speech in an electronic age? In a masterly synthesis of history, law, and technology, Ithiel de Sola Pool analyzes the confrontation between the regulators of the new communications technology and the First Amendment.

"It is difficult to imagine a more comprehensive and sensible book about new technologies and personal freedoms… [Pool] is thoroughly versed in communications law and its evolution, knows the technologies so well that he can explain them without jargon, and understands the place of communications technologies in American history." - The New Republic

"An extraordinary book…should be required reading—not because it provides all the answers, or even necessarily the right ones. Its importance is the perspective it gives to a vital moment in our history." - American Bar Association Journal