Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Feb 27, 2022 24 tweets 22 min read Read on X
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Amazon's $31b "ad business" isn't; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2022/02/27/not…

#Pluralistic 1/ Jean-Leon Gerome's painting...
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*:

eventbrite.com/e/dangerous-vi… 2/
Amazon's $31b "ad business" isn't: They getcha coming and going.

3/  Image: Jean-Leon Gerome (m...
#20yrsago The Chilling Effects project web.archive.org/web/2002032714…

#20yrsago Jack Valenti pushes mandatory DRM for every computer theregister.com/2002/02/26/mpa…

#20yrsago Michael Moore versus Bill O’Reilly web.archive.org/web/2002022223… 4/ Image
#10yrsago SKS, world’s largest microfinance service, drives debtors to suicide nhregister.com/news/article/L…

#10yrsago Author discovers that Amazon can reprice his indie Kindle books however they want and cut his royalties, at will jimchines.com/2012/02/amazon… 5/ Image
#10yrsago Repo Man director urges fans to “pirate a bunch of my stuff right away” thequietus.com/articles/08085…

#10yrsago Save Disney World from Disneylandification passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2012/02/on-int…

#10yrsago Labour to Britain’s Internet: drop dead harrietharman.org/speaking-at-th… 6/ Image
#10yrsago Rumblefish claims to own copyright to ambient birdsong on YouTube web.archive.org/web/2012022708…

#10yrsago Wikileaks releases “Global Intelligence Files” — 5MM emails from private spook outfit Stratfor wikileaks.org/gifiles/ 7/ Image
#10yrsago Danish collecting society blocks band from playing anti-ACTA gig modspil.dk/wordpress/?p=2…

#10yrago Techdirt post about SOPA censored from Google results due to bogus DMCA complaint techdirt.com/articles/20120… 8/ Image
#5yrsago The Body Orifice Security Scanner is why the rectally smuggled phone is called “Beat the BOSS” memex.craphound.com/2017/02/27/the…

#5yrsago The Amazon reviews for a phone designed for rectal smuggling are pretty interesting reading memex.craphound.com/2017/02/27/the… 9/ Image
#5yrsago THEFT: A History of Music memex.craphound.com/2017/02/25/the…

#5yrsago Three kinds of propaganda, and what to do about them memex.craphound.com/2017/02/25/thr…

#5yrsago The CPAC replacement speaker for Milo Yiannopoulos was a notorious Japanese cult-member mutantfrog.com/2017/02/26/pol… 10/ Image
#1yrago Privacy is not property: Interests, not exclusive rights pluralistic.net/2021/02/26/mea…

#1yrago K-Zombies: Zombies conquer Korea pluralistic.net/2021/02/26/mea…

#1yrago Against hygiene theater: Wired: Ventilation. Tired: Handwashing. Fired: Sterilization. pluralistic.net/2021/02/25/rin… 11/ Image
Thursday's threads: Mass arbitration attack could bring Intuit to its knees; and more!

12/ Image
My latest book is Attack Surface, a sequel to my bestselling Little Brother books, now in paperback, wherever books are sold.

Signed copies at @DarkDel:

darkdel.com/store/p1840/Co… 13/
My book "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism" is a critique of Big Tech connecting conspiratorial thinking to the rise of tech monopolies (proposing a way to deal with both) is now out in paperback:

onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy…

Signed copies here:
darkdel.com/store/p2024/Av… 14/ Image
My ebooks and audiobooks (from @torbooks, @HoZ_Books, @mcsweeneys, and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."

craphound.com/shop/ 15/ Image
Upcoming appearances:

* Dangerous Visions and New Worlds(@CityLightsBooks), Feb 27
citylights.com/events/dangero…

* Seize the Means of Computation, Konline Poland, Mar 4
konline.ava.waw.pl/konline

* Emerging Technologies For the Enterprise, Apr 19-20
2022.phillyemergingtech.com 16/ Image
Recent appearances:

* The Policy Implications of Web3 (@StanfordCyber)


* Big Tech & Surveillance Capitalism (@shaunattwood):


* Bringing Back Luddites (@OhNoPodcast)
ohnopodcast.com/investigations… 17/ Image
My first picture book is out! It's called Poesy the Monster Slayer and it's an epic tale of bedtime-refusal, toy-hacking and monster-hunting, illustrated by Matt @mcrockefeller. It's the monster book I dreamt of reading to my own daughter.

pluralistic.net/2020/07/14/poe… 18/ Image
You can also follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection!

Here's today's edition: pluralistic.net/2022/02/27/not… 19/
If you're a @Medium subscriber, you can read these - as well as previews of upcoming magazine columns and early exclusives on doctorow.medium.com. 20/
My latest @Medium column is: "We Should Not Endure a King: Antitrust is a political cause, not an economic one"

doctorow.medium.com/we-should-not-… 21/
If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is also ad- and tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🥏". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!

Subscribe here: pluralistic.net/plura-list 22/
Are you trying to wean yourself off Big Tech? Follow these threads on the #fediverse at @pluralistic@mamot.fr.

Here's today's edition: mamot.fr/@pluralistic/1… 23/
Today's top sources: @yvessmith (nakedcapitalism.com). 24/ Image

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More from @doctorow

Apr 24
Patrick "patio11" McKenzie is a fantastic explainer, the kind of person who breaks topics down in ways that stay with you, and creep into your understanding of other subjects, too. Take his 2022 essay, "The optimal amount of fraud is non-zero":



1/ bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/optima…A rainforest in Chiapas, green and intergrown.
If you'd like an essay-formatted 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:

pluralistic.net/2025/04/24/her…

2/
It's a very well-argued piece, and here's the nut of it:

> The marginal return of permitting fraud against you is plausibly greater than zero, and therefore, you should welcome greater than zero fraud.

3/
Read 55 tweets
Apr 22
Astrophysicist Adam Becker knows a bit about science and tech - enough to show, in his book *More Everything Forever* that claims tech bros make about space colonies, mind uploading, and other skiffy subjects are nonsense dressed up as prediction:



1/ hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-be…The Basic Books cover for Adam Becker's 'More Everything Faster.'
If you'd like an essay-formatted 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:

pluralistic.net/2025/04/22/vin…

2/
Becker investigates the personalities, the ideologies, the coalitions, the histories, and crucially, the *grifts* behind various science fictional pursuits.

3/
Read 24 tweets
Apr 21
Have you heard that tariffs are going to drive prices up? Me too. There's a good reason we're hearing a lot of talk about tariffs prices: tariffs are a tax that is ultimately paid by consumers.

1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted 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:

pluralistic.net/2025/04/21/tru…

2/
Trump plans to raise $6t in tariffs, making them the largest tax increase in US history:



But that $6t is just for starters.

3/ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/04/03/as-…
Read 42 tweets
Apr 18
It's damned hard to prove an antitrust case: so often, the prosecution has to prove that the company *intended* to crush competition, and/or that they raised prices or reduced quality because they knew they didn't have to fear competitors.

1/ A naked, sexless pull-string talking doll with a speaker grille set into its chest. It has the head of Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar, and a pull string extending from its back. A hand - again, from a Zuckerberg metaverse avatar - is pulling back the string. The doll towers over a courtroom.
If you'd like an essay-formatted 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:

pluralistic.net/2025/04/18/cha…

2/
It's a lot easier to prove *what* a corporation did than it is to prove *why* they did it. What am I, a mind-reader? But imagine for a second that the corporation in the dock is a global multinational.

3/
Read 64 tweets
Apr 15
A lawsuit filed in February accuses Tesla of remotely altering odometer values on failure-prone cars, in a bid to push these lemons beyond the 50,000 mile warranty limit:



1/ thestreet.com/automotive/tes…A scene out of an 11th century tome on demon-summoning called 'Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros. Anno 1057. Noli me tangere.' It depicts a demon tormenting two unlucky would-be demon-summoners who have dug up a grave in a graveyard. One summoner is held aloft by his hair, screaming; the other screams from inside the grave he is digging up. The scene has been altered to remove the demon's prominent, urinating penis, to add in a Tesla supercharger, and a red Tesla Model S nosing into the scene.   Image: Steve Jurvetson (modified)...
If you'd like an essay-formatted 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:

pluralistic.net/2025/04/15/mus…

2/
The suit was filed by a California driver who bought a used Tesla with 36,772 miles on it. The car's suspension kept failing, necessitating multiple servicings.

3/
Read 62 tweets
Apr 12
A jury has ordered Blue Cross of Louisiana to pay $421m to a hospital specializing in a much sought-after type of breast reconstruction, primarily for cancer survivors.

1/ A 19th century medical illustration of a topless woman whose left breast has been consumed by a tumor. She is being menaced by an engraved illustration of a looming skeleton, who raises one hand as if to strike her. Behind them is a faded and distressed Blue Cross logo.
If you'd like an essay-formatted 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:

pluralistic.net/2025/04/12/pre…

2/
The insurer "preapproved" surgeries for thousands of patients, but then held back 92% of the payments it owed, with CEO Steven Udvarhelyi insisting that "authorization never says we’re going to pay you":



3/documentcloud.org/documents/2588…
Read 34 tweets

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