Natasha Tusikov 
Chokepoints 
Global Private Regulation on the Internet

In January 2012, millions participated in the now-infamous “Internet blackout” against the 
Stop Online Piracy Act, protesting the power it would have given intellectual property holders over the Internet. However, while SOPA’s withdrawal was heralded as a victory for an open Internet, a small group of corporations, tacitly backed by the US and other governments, have implemented much of SOPA via a series of secret, handshake agreements. Drawing on extensive interviews, Natasha Tusikov details the emergence of a global regime in which large Internet firms act as regulators for powerful intellectual property owners, challenging fundamental notions of democratic accountability. 

Table of Content

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations


1. Secret Handshake Deals

2. Internet Firms Become Global Regulators

3. Revenue Chokepoints

4. Access Chokepoints

5. Marketplace Chokepoints

6. Changing the Enforcement Paradigm

7. A Future for Digital Rights


Notes

References

Index

About the author

Natasha Tusikov is a visiting fellow with the School of Regulation and Global Governance (Reg Net) at the Australian National University, and a former strategic criminal intelligence analyst with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa, Canada. She holds a Ph D in sociology from the Australian National University.