Captive audience: the telecom industry and monopoly power in the new gilded age / Susan Crawford.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

From railroad to telephone -- Regulatory pendulum : the long twilight struggle -- A family company -- Going vertical : lessons from AOL-Time Warner -- Netflix, dead or alive -- The peacock disappears -- The programming battering ram -- When cable met wireless -- The biggest squeeze of all -- Comcast's marathon -- The FCC approves -- Aftermath -- The AT&T -- T-Mobile deal -- The costly gift.

Ten years ago, the United States stood at the forefront of the Internet revolution. With some of the fastest speeds and lowest prices in the world for high-speed Internet access, the nation was poised to be the global leader in the new knowledge-based economy. Today that global competitive advantage has all but vanished because of a series of government decisions and resulting monopolies that have allowed dozens of countries to pass us in both speed and price of broadband. This steady slide backward not only deprives consumers of vital services needed in a competitive employment and business market--it also threatens the economic future of the nation. This important book by leading telecommunications policy expert Susan Crawford explores why Americans are now paying much more but getting much less.--From publisher description.