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"Reddit's Alexis Ohanian released an excerpt of his first book on the social news website he co-founded on Tuesday.\nThe book, Without Their Permission, focuses on entrepreneurship in the Internet age. Ohanian gave redditors the first sneak peek \u2014 a grim vision for the potential future written in the form of a commencement speech for the class of 2025. \nSee also: Reddit 101: Co-Founders Explain the Community [VIDEO]\n\nDear Graduating Class of 2025: I owe you an apology. We screwed up the Internet, one of the world\u2019s greatest innovations, and I\u2019m truly sorry.\n[...]\nAs for the Internet, we had a chance, with all the momentum we gained from pummeling SOPA and PIPA back in 2012, to educate our politicians about how important Internet freedom is to every single one of their constituents. Every member of the House and Senate represented a digital district \u2014 it wasn\u2019t a red or blue issue, but something that even the most divisive districts could agree on. Despite what you may\u2019ve heard or read, it wasn\u2019t just Silicon Valley that cared about this; it was all of America.\n\nIn the excerpt, Ohanian also takes subtle digs at large tech companies, including Google. \n\"In case you find yourselves wondering what life was like back then, you can always fire up Gmail,\" Ohanian writes. \"Google hasn\u2019t had to update it in nearly a decade because there\u2019s no reason to \u2014 no startup can compete with them because they just block that competitor\u2019s website or bury them in litigation.\"\nHowever, it's far from a burn book; Ohanian examines how the Internet can provide powerful positive change. The 29-year-old is a firm advocate for the free web \u2014 he spent months educating the public and Congress about the dangers of legislature like SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).\nThe book includes personal stories about founding Reddit and launching travel startup Hipmunk. Other stories include \"amazing people doing awesome things\" \u2014 specifically, the Internet's important role in industries like philanthropy, music, comedy and publishing. \n\"The internet is the most powerful and democratic tool for disseminating information in human history. And when that power is harnessed to create new communities, technologies, businesses or charities, the results can be absolutely stunning,\" the book's synopsis states.\nWithout Their Permission hits shelves on Oct. 1. It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble's website and IndieBound. \nOhanian has also released an audio version of the excerpt on SoundCloud, which you can listen to below.\n\nWe've also shared the cover of his book, below:\n\nAre you looking forward to reading Without Their Permission? Tell us in the comments below.\nImage: Alexis Ohanian"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/08/20/alexis-ohanian-book-reddit/>