Lessig on Keen

Lawrence Lessig unleashes his sarcasm on Andrew Keen in a rather petulant review: Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur": BRILLIANT!

Comments

[Josh S.]

That review is a devastating blow. The book sounded like something I was interested in, but from what Lessig quotes, parts of it seem inaccurate and poorly reasoned.

[Kevin]

I thought Lessig's review was quite disappointing, actually. I think he'd do better to skip the snide comments ("failed Internet entrepreneur") and nitpicky critiques about technical terms and pay attention to the broader points Keen is making. Keen is undoubtedly exaggerating for effect, but Lessig doesn't seem able to see past that, or is intentionally playing dumb. Lessig also seems to pretend that his followers don't exist. The more radical "copyfighters" may not be officially sanctioned by Lessig, but like it or not he's associated with them in the public eye.

I don't know if Keen's book is actually any good, but his thesis gains a bit of support from Lessig's review, IMHO.