The (relative) maturity of the Internet and its use by both citizens across the world and the governments that occasionally fear them has produced something of a cottage industry in books. Titles on that relationship include the fairly recent The Net Delusion by Evgeny Morozov and The Internet of Elsewhere by Cyrus Farivar.

The latest on the shelf is Consent of the Networked by Rebecca MacKinnon. MacKinnon was co-founder of the Global Voices international blogging project. She was also a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center and a China reporter for CNN. Her understanding of the fight against online repression begins with China, a country that suffers from Sinophilia and Sinophobia in equal measures. Her time as a reporter, academic, and critic both inside and outside the country (as well as her ability to speak with the Chinese directly) establishes her as an expert. But the book is not a China book, it's an idea book. The idea: the Internet has become a "highly contested political space." And one of the strongest contenders in this space is the American technology business community.

Consent showcases MacKinnon's ability to bring together the many elements creating speech limitations online. Her notion of "networked authoritarianism" is as exciting as it is dispiriting. The Internet is not a series of tubes with a shutoff valve; at least not usually. Instead, it is an ecosystem. To control it, you need technology—filters and control over where and how your country's Internet connects to the world. You also must have legal tools, social hacks, and the connivance of the businesses that produce the materials making the Internet possible in the first place.

That is where one of the key problems lies, according to MacKinnon. Although functioning democracies have maintained the "consent of the governed," that consent has not survived the advent of sophisticated Internet tech.

"The reality is that the corporations and governments that build, operate, and govern cyberspace are not being held sufficiently accountable for their exercise of power over the lives and identities of people who use digital networks. They are sovereigns operating without the consent of the networked."

After describing the "networked authoritarianism" of China and Iran, MacKinnon explores their variants, including the "digital bonapartism" of Russia. She covers the way corporations (almost invariably Western, and overwhelmingly American) assist in online control. She then turns toward Facebook and Google, examining the problems they have with privacy and cooperation with state actors. In fact, her explanation of corporate culpability in the restriction of online speech may be the most important contribution of this book.

Products by Intel (McAffee), Blue Coat, Palo Alto Networks, Websense, and Netsweeper have all been documented as being used by Bahrain, Tunisia, the U.A.E., Yemen, and others to restrict free access. Only the last, a Canadian company, expressed any reservations about this use of their products. The others have defended it. The defense is a common one and extends to the giants of the social web like Facebook. Namely, we must "respect" the laws of other countries. This is the defense used by then Yahoo general counsel Michael Callahn when he spoke before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. His appearance came in regards to the company's surrender of private information on journalist Shi Tao to the Chinese authorities. It inspired the late Rep. Tom Lantos to proclaim, "While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies."

A great deal of the conversation surrounding this topic, including some of the books devoted to it, tends to fall into either a cheerleading or a doomsaying camp. The latter is understandably gaining ground. MacKinnon manages to be critical without barnstorming over the details and without losing a sense of the promise of these technologies. She also is one of the first I have seen to suggest actionable solutions. It's a function, in part perhaps, of her experience testifying in front of legislative committees prone to spectacle and requiring a bit of Mencken's "harsh corrective."

The last section of the book, "What Is to Be Done?" examines that question in detail. Among her conclusions:

"First, we must come up with more innovative ways to hold companies accountable for the human rights implications of their business, software, and engineering choices. Second, people and organizations...need to work more creatively and aggressively to help companies shape their products and services in a way that will minimize the likelihood that their businesses will violate...human rights and civil liberties."

She also suggests increased regulation of Western companies who refuse to cooperate with these issues. MacKinnon wants increased conversation between people, government, and the companies in question. She encourages a less romantic attitude toward these technologies as magic beans that will free the world.

The book is well written, with a lushness of historical background and a breadth of learning that similar books sometimes lack. MacKinnon is telling a story, not just documenting her analysis. She demonstrates a great deal of experience with the topic and a masterful ability to tease the implications out of a chaotic and dynamic mass of information. But MacKinnon also has a sense of what Lawrence Durrell called the "adventive moment" as well as a talent for vignette. These contribute to her avowed aim of being "useful to experts and nonexperts alike who are concerned about the future of freedom in the Internet age."