If a media sage like Marshall McLuhan had come along in 1952, six years into the television era, to warn Americans how TV would affect family life, cultural values and the political process, they might have thought twice about abandoning this powerful medium to commercial interests. Today the Internet revolution is six years old, having gotten under way in earnest when the federal government lifted restrictions against the commercial use of the network in 1993. Andrew Shapiro's The Control Revolution, which takes a sober look at the social and political upheavals already visible as we leap into the wired world, may help prevent history from repeating itself.

The first few chapters catalog the Net's benefits. It provides a wealth of information options, makes it easy to filter and personalize the news we receive, eliminates costly middlemen from many commercial transactions, creates "the potential for everyone to be a publisher" and fosters an electronic direct democracy that can guide, and sometimes rein in, representative government.