Today (Feb 27), I'm on a panel called "False Dawns and Wandergrounds: Dystopia, Then and Now," as part of @CityLightsBooks's launch of *Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985*:
Looking at Amazon's quarterly financials, it would be easy to mistake the company's $31b ad division as a serious shift in the online advertising industry, but that would be a huge mistake. You see, Amazon's not really selling *ads*. 1/
If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Nearly all of that $31b is for an "ad" *on Amazon itself*: that is it's Amazon collecting billions from the sellers who rely on the company as their main retail channel, who are locked in a bidding war to buy the top spots in search and product pages. 3/
Ever hear of #BindingArbitration? That's a clause in a contract that says that you aren't allowed to sue the company you're doing business with, even if they cheat, maim or kill you. 1/
It was invented to let giant companies of equal size and power agree in advance not to spend billions and decades in court to resolve contractual disputes. 2/
Then, Federalist Society judges led by Antonin Scalia cleared the way for arbitration to be crammed down everyday folks' throats by powerful businesses. 3/