Posting about Yale Press’ foray into new media, the Freakonomics blog of the New York Times announced that the “free e-book movement has officially begun.” They cite Yale Press titles like The Future of Reputation by Daniel Solove and The Wealth of Networks by Yochai Benkler as recent developments in this new movement.

Solove wonders what this downloadable format will do to the publishing industry and books in general. On his blog, Concurring Opinions, Solove asks, “Is this trend a wise thing for publishers to do? Will it help sales? Hurt sales?” You can help answer these questions and voice your opinion about the issue by leaving a comment on the post.

The Future of Reputation explores the profound implications of personal information on the Internet, preserved forever even if it is false, biased, or humiliating. Brimming with examples of online gossip, slander, and rumor, the book discusses the tensions between privacy and free speech and proposes how to balance the two. What information about you is on the Internet?

Click here to listen to an interview with Solove on the Yale Press Podcast. Or to download The Future of Reputation as a free e-book, click here.

With the radical changes in information production that the Internet has introduced, we stand at a crucial moment of transition, says Yochai Benkler in The Wealth of Networks on the new information economy and our socio-political future. He discusses the legal and policy issues that confront us and warns that the Internet’s promise of greater individual freedom, cultural diversity, political discourse, and justice is by no means guaranteed unless we make the right decisions now.

For a free, e-book copy of The Wealth of Networks, click here.