Conspiracy. Fraud. Violence. Murder. What starts out virtual can get real all too quickly — and when the web is worldwide, so are the consequences.

The internet is broken because it is owned by private firms and run for profit. Google annihilates your privacy and Facebook amplifies right-wing propaganda because it is profitable to do so. But the internet wasn't always like this. Tarnoff tells the story of the privatization that made the modern internet, and which set in motion the crises that consume it today.