Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Oct 20, 2022 32 tweets 33 min read Read on X
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: It was all downhill after the Cuecat; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/ben…

#Pluralistic 1/ A Cuecat scanner with a bun...
It was all downhill after the Cuecat: On the origins of "user manipulation and surveillance."

3/ Image: Jerry Whiting (modif...
Hey look at this

* Creepy Ant Face Close-Up Haunts Nikon Small World Photo Contest cnet.com/science/creepy…

* How Ticketmaster Destroyed Live Music

* Teddy Roosevelt's Application to the Explorers Club flickr.com/photos/jurvets… 4/ Image
#15yrsago @JesseBrown's radio show about gaming in China: propaganda, paranoia and gold-farming web.archive.org/web/2011092020…

#15yrsago Baseball players’ stats aren’t property espn.com/mlb/news/story… 5/ Image
#15yrsago @GreatDismal on futurism, terrorism and other isms thetyee.ca/Books/2007/10/…

#15yrsago The Counterfeiters: superb concentration camp movie about the prisoners’ dilemma memex.craphound.com/2007/10/20/the… 6/ Image
#15yrsago How the AP busted Comcast for blocking BitTorrent web.archive.org/web/2014042116…

#15yrsago Snitch-chips embedded in UK school’s uniforms archrights.wordpress.com/2007/10/20/chi…

#10yrsago Groucho meets Bradbury 7/ Image
#10yrsago Identity thief’s amazing disguise fails to fool bank, toddlers web.archive.org/web/2012102023…

#10yrsago Coming to America: Six copyright accusations, lose your Internet arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20… 8/ Image
#10yrsago Researcher claims feasibility of writing lethal wireless pacemaker viruses web.archive.org/web/2012101905…

#10yrsago Dutch government gives itself the right to break into your computer and destroy it bitsoffreedom.nl/2012/10/18/dut… 9/ Image
#10yrsago Why casual sexism in science matters web.archive.org/web/2012102102…

#10yrsago Corruption in Arizona National Guard, from “bum-hunts” to sexual harassment huffpost.com/entry/national… 10/ Image
#5yrsago NYPD has no backup for its seized property database, recording millions in annual seizures courthousenews.com/no-forfeiture-…

#5yrsago Leaked ICE forfeiture manual instructs agents to seize houses if they contain a phone implicated in crime theintercept.com/2017/10/13/ice… 11/ Image
#5yrsago Mobile ad technique allows stalkers to follow you around a city for less than $1000 adint.cs.washington.edu/ADINT.pdf

#5yrsago Troubles loom for patent trolls who rent sovereign immunity from Native American tribes arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20… 12/ Image
#5yrsago IRS to America: you were probably already doxed before the Equifaxpocalype, so don’t worry about it thehill.com/policy/cyberse… 13/ Image
#5yrsago Two of the Chicago airport cops who beat up Dr David Dao got fired for lying about it (but not for the beating) consumerist.com/2017/10/18/two…

#5yrsago The Tories replaced benefits with “universal credit” and left a town to starve theguardian.com/society/2017/o… 14/ Image
#5yrsago Viral Chinese mobile game requires players to “applaud” a speech by President Xi Jinping scmp.com/news/china/soc…

#5yrsago Quaker Apples & Cinnamon has “35% less sugar” because they’ve cut the portion size by 35%, while the price remains 100% reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuri… 15/ Image
#5yrsago Apple brought back Braun design, but Google is bringing back Olivetti medium.com/s/story/google…

#5yrsago Facebook’s security is like a “college campus,” but they face threats like a “defense contractor” zdnet.com/article/leaked… 16/ Image
#5yrsago @quinnnorton on sexual assault, community response, and restorative justice quinnnorton.medium.com/robert-scoble-…

#5yrsago Trump’s war on leakers has neutered the intelligence community’s whistleblower program, which diverts leakers foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/18/tur… 17/ Image
#5yrsago Detailed anatomy of Wisconsin’s election-rigging, racist voter suppression motherjones.com/politics/2017/…

#1yrago The monopoly strategy behind the Google/Microsoft mobile patent wars pluralistic.net/2021/10/20/viz… 18/ Image
#1yrago Copyleft lawsuit against Vizio will allow anyone to defend the commons pluralistic.net/2021/10/20/viz…

#1yrago The true, Terry Pratchett-esque origins of the trillion-dollar coin pluralistic.net/2021/10/19/moi… 19/ Image
Tuesday's threads: Being good at your job is praxis; and more!

20/  Image: Temple University L...
My latest book is Chokepoint Capitalism (with @rgibli), nonfiction about monopoly and fairness in creative labor markets.

chokepointcapitalism.com

Signed copies available from @BookSoup:

booksoup.com/book/978080700… 21/
My latest novel 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… 22/
My ebooks and audiobooks (from @torbooks, @HoZ_Books, @mcsweeneys, @BeaconPressBks et al) 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/ 23/ Image
Upcoming appearances:

* @LibraryJournal Day of Dialog (Zoom), 10/20
libraryjournal.com/event/library-…

* Chokepoint Capitalism Event, @ArgoBookshop (Montreal), 10/23
eventbrite.ca/e/cory-doctoro… 24/ Image
Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* Surviving Apocalyptic Economics, with @rushkoff and @rgibli, Ottawa @Writersfest, 10/24
writersfestival.org/events/fall-20…

* Launch for xychelsea's "Readme.txt: A Memoir" (Bookshop.org), 10/26:
xychelsea.tv/#event-booksho… 25/ Image
Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* @WEDF_forum, 10/26-28
worldethicaldataforum.org/registration

* #RadicalBookFair/@Lighthousebks (Edinburgh), 11/10
lighthousebookshop.com/events/chokepo…

* Arthur C Clarke Award (DC), 11/16
clarkefoundation.org/2022-awards-ev…

* Big Ideas Live (London), 11/19
news.sky.com/bigideaslive 26/ Image
Recent appearances:

* Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan (@lithub)
lithub.com/cory-doctorow-…

* Sex and Politics with @fakedansavage (use code "Doctorow" for a free month):
index.supportingcast.fm/subscription/t…

* Regulating the Online Public Sphere (@ColumbiaGFoE)
27/ Image
Happy #SpookySeason! My picture book "Poesy the Monster Slayer" is the perfect read for your little monsters: it's an epic tale of bedtime-refusal, toy-hacking and monster-hunting, illustrated by @mcrockefeller.

pluralistic.net/2020/07/14/poe… 28/ 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/2022/10/20/ben… 29/
If you're a @Medium subscriber, you can read these essays - as well as previews of upcoming magazine columns and early exclusives on doctorow.medium.com.

My latest Medium column is "Unspeakable: Big-Tech-as-cop vs. abolishing Big Tech"

doctorow.medium.com/unspeakable-8c… 30/
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 31/
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… 32/

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More from @doctorow

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
Apr 11
It's been more than a decade in the making, but Facebook - or, if you prefer, Meta - is going on trial for antitrust violations, with the highest possible stakes and the worst possible evidence (for Facebook).

1/ A Gilded Age courtroom scene depicting a judge high atop the bench wagging a disapproving finger at an expensively dressed figure in the foreground. The foreground character has lost his top hat, which sits on the floor, as he roots through a breifcase on the defendant's table. The foreground figure's head has been replaced with the head of Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse avatar. The figure's right hand has been replaced with a Facebook 'thumbs up' icon. Hanging from the judge's bench like an unfurled scroll is a sheet of paper; the contents of this sheet have been replaced with the first page ...
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/2025/04/11/it-…

2/
The Big Tech On Trial blog was started to follow the Google antitrust case, the biggest antitrust case of the century, which was barely noticed by most of the press.

3/
Read 80 tweets
Apr 10
It's hard to remember now, but for more than three years under Biden, it was possible to read the headlines and feel your government was taking big, decisive action to tame the corporate behemoths that rip you off, maim you on the job, and undermine our democracy.

1/ A massive Earth Day demonstration in 1970, with a speaker in the foreground, his back to the camera, standing at a podium. The image has been modified: the speaker has been tinted green, the audience has been tinted red. Between the speaker and the audience marches a gleeful skeleton, pounding on a snare drum with drumsticks made of human femur-bones. The skeleton wears a top-hat. It is haloed in flaring light.  Image: umseas (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/snre/34605145761/  CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
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/2025/04/10/sol…

2/
Antitrust surge under Biden was remarkable: a sustained, organized, effective policy to support the interests of the majority of people against the interests of a cohort of ultra-wealthy wreckers and looters. According to political science, that surge is impossible.

3/
Read 66 tweets
Apr 2
It's not that the Republicans and the Democrats are the same...obviously. But for decades - since Clinton - the Dems have sided with neoliberal economics, just like their Republican counterparts.

1/ The ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, taken in the late 18th century, overlooking a stretch Lebanon. It has been emblazoned with the 1970s-era logo for the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Before it stands a figure taken from an early 1900s illustrated bible, depicting a Hebrew priest making an offering to the golden calf at the foot of Mt Sinai. The priest's head has been replaced with the head of Milton Friedman. The calf has been adorned with a golden top-hat and a radiating halo of white light.
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/2025/04/02/me-…

2/
So the major differences between the two related to overt discrimination, to the exclusion of the economic policies that immiserated working people, with the worst effects landing on racial minorities, women, and gender minorities.

3/
Read 78 tweets

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