THE FUTURE OF IDEAS: THE FATE OF THE COMMONS IN A CONNECTED WORLD
By Lawrence Lessig, Random House, $30

The Internet, perhaps the mightiest engine of creativity ever, is already being transformed into an equally potent obstacle to innovation, says Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig. His warnings about how entrenched business interests are coming to control the Net will scare some people. Others will find his recommended solutions just as scary. Quite likely, he speculates, Microsoft and AOL Time Warner will dominate the online world for years, even as unfettered use of the Net is being reined in by an array of regulatory and technical forces, including software used to control access to sites deemed undesirable. His remedies, including limiting copyright to five-year renewable terms and forcing record companies to enable Napster-style file-sharing, are radical and may not be realistic. But if his pre- dictions do come to pass, now wouldn’t be a bad idea to start thinking about the ramifications.

LEADING UP: HOW TO LEAD YOUR BOSS SO YOU BOTH WIN
By Michael Useem, Crown Business, $26

Don’t just follow orders — challenge your leaders, says leadership expert and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Useem, who cites eight cases of leaders — from the Old Testament to the new economy — who helped their organizations by doing just that.