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15 Feb, 4 tweets, 2 min read
North Dakota has a historic shot at dealing big tech a reminder that monopolies ought to be controlled by democratically-elected governments, not the other way around. But if North Dakota punts, there's a string of states lined up to be first coming soon! nytimes.com/2021/02/14/tec…
And I'm not kidding about setting up a Basecamp office in North Dakota! If they end up being the only state with this sort of protection from big-tech extortion, it's a complete no-brainer for most mid-sized software companies to open an office there to gain protection.
I'd infinitely rather spend our company funds on local real estate, local hires, and local services in North Dakota than send grotesque shake-down cheques to Cupertino or Mountain View. We need to distribute the spoils of tech much broader than we have so far.
If you're local to North Dakota, please, please, PLEASE call your senator to let them know they should pass this 🙏. Apple is lobbying the bejesus out of this. Only democratic counters stand a chance.

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More from @dhh

DHH Profile picture
15 Feb
The Arizona House Commerce Committee is having a hearing tomorrow on a bill to offer software makers protection from app store payment processing extortion and retaliation. I'll be testifying remotely! This is like the ND bill, but without alternative app stores. Just payment.
This is the kind of legislative momentum I only dared dream about when I testified before Congress a year ago. Everything seemed like such a long shot back then. No more. The pressure is mounting, change now looks way more likely than not 🙏 m.signalvnoise.com/testimony-befo…
The passage of this bill would simply be huge. As soon as its passed, we could start offer Arizona customers the path to sign up for @heyhey and @basecamp directly from the apps. Opening those doors that Apple and Google made us shut.
Read 5 tweets
DHH Profile picture
12 Feb
What do you mean Standard Oil has a monopoly? You could heat your house with a wood-burning fireplace. Or keep your horse instead of getting a car! And the railroads? Just load up your donkey! Import some elephants! USE YOUR IMAGINATION!
Almost all monopolies have substitute products or services. And few of them have a literal 100% market share. Thankfully antitrust law wasn’t written to be countered by such naive, basic arguments.
Antitrust law was created to deal with the problems we are having in mobile software distribution BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT SPECIAL! Same monopoly forces, extracting the same rents, applying the same bullying. This is a distribution monopoly. Classic tollbooth. Like rail. Like telecom.
Read 7 tweets
DHH Profile picture
12 Feb
I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out: What if you the computer in your pocket you paid $1,000 for could be freely used to run the software that you, the owner of said phone, would like to run? I know, I know. BANANAS IDEA. Could never work.
Apple loves to pretend that general-purpose computers – from the Commodore 64 to the Amstrad to the Amiga to the Mac to the PC – have been able to run the software of the owner's choice since forever. This idea that your computer is not actually your property is novel.
Imagine if your toaster worked like that? I'm sorry Dave, I just can't toast that bagel. It was sold without giving a cut to my maker. Please insert a valid bagel that has been properly authorized for toasting by The Toasting Corporation.
Read 4 tweets
DHH Profile picture
10 Feb
Considering the fact that Apple testified to the North Dakota Senate that if they dare pass this bill, it would "destroy iPhone as you know it", it's kinda wild how little coverage this has received. If it's as serious a threat as Apple claims, shouldn't this be BREAKING NEWS?
Another good test if Apple is simply bullshitting is whether this gets listed as a material business risk in their next 10-Q filing with the SEC. You'd think pending legislation that could "destroy" their most profitable product "as we know it" would warrant investor disclosures?
And if Apple fails to disclose this risk to investors, are they then lining up a "everything-is-securities-fraud" (as @matt_levine would say 😂) lawsuit from investors or inquiry from the SEC?
Read 5 tweets
DHH Profile picture
10 Feb
I seriously thought this was a joke. The old/new "settlement" had no difference? Oh, there is the smallest of differences. I won't spoil it. Look for it yourself. But this is what a trillion-dollar company showed up to bully Prepear about? Out of control.
Easy to dismiss this as "haha apple lawyers clocking billable hours". Nah. This is classic Foucault-style sovereign demonstration of power. Apple has shown they have SO MUCH POWER they can change the angle of a fucking leaf in your logo, if they so please.
When you have that kind of power – a willingness to spend tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars – to change the angle of a leaf, JUST BECAUSE, you've warned the world what kind of pain you could really inflict, if the mood should strike.
Read 5 tweets
DHH Profile picture
10 Feb
Oh this is more like it: "No read tracking - we only check if the receiving server accepted the email, we never invade a person's inbox privacy". A transactional email sender that not only doesn't default spy pixels, but won't allow them 😍 ohmysmtp.com
I'm not surprised that they're out of the UK. There's a much greater appreciation for privacy-by-default in Europe at the moment. The GDPR is like a fertilizer for a new crop of services that simple seeks to do what's right by users from the outset. Loving it!
The way I found them was through this lovely explainer of SPF Records. This is something we worked on a lot for HEY for Work and custom domains. The need to validate and authorize who can send from your domain is key to guaranteeing delivery. blog.ohmysmtp.com/blog/whats-an-…
Read 4 tweets

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