Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
Dec 19, 2022 37 tweets 35 min read Read on X
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Better failure for social media; Hey look at this; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2022/12/19/bet…

#Pluralistic 1/ Moses confronting the Pharaoh, demanding that he release the
#NewYorkers! The state legislature has passed landmark #RightToRepair legislation, but @GovHochul hasn't signed it and it might die. Visit eff.org/rtr to help tell the Governor that we can't afford to wait (and tell your friends in New York, too!). 2/
Better failure for social media: The right of exit, freedom of reach, and technological self-determination.

3/ Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wik
Hey look at this

* Mandelmap poster mandelmap.com/product-page/m… (h/t @Kottke)

* @ProPublica Launches Investigative Editor Training Program propublica.org/article/propub…

* this house may or may not be real mcmansionhell.com/post/703763852… 4/
#20yrsago Libraries get Audible audiobooks web.archive.org/web/2003021211…

#20yrsago Videos of GW Bush cracking jokes with Enron execs about accounting fraud latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

#20yrsago Elcomsoft not guilty on all counts! web.archive.org/web/2003010104… 5/
#20yrsago Technically legal signs for anti-PATRIOT ACT librarians librarian.net/technicality.h…

#20yrsago Disney cartoons not hypnotic enough for boys web.archive.org/web/2003021213…

#15yrsago Abandoned Sun Microsystems building photo-tour web.archive.org/web/2006021110… 6/
#15yrsago Science is linguistic as well as numerical radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/…

#15yrsago HOWTO Make a BristleBot vibrating toothbrush robot evilmadscientist.com/2007/bristlebo…

#15yrsago Kim Stanley Robinson on “Comparative Planetology” bldgblog.com/2007/12/compar… 7/
#15yrsago Great Firewall of China crumbling from within wired.com/2007/10/ff-chi…

#15yrsago @DBtodomundo’s guide to being a musician in the 21st century web.archive.org/web/2008030602…

#15yrsago @DBtodomundo and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke talk music biz wired.com/2007/12/ff-yor… 8/
#15yrsago MTV declares music industry “broken” web.archive.org/web/2007121906…

#10yrsago Lessons from an author who switched from a commercial publisher to an audience-funded Kickstarter book tobiasbuckell.com/how-i-used-kic… 9/
#10yrsago Amazon Replacement Order Scam: anatomy of a social engineering con in action web.archive.org/web/2012123023…

#10yrsago Point of Sale skimmer that prints out real-seeming receipts 10/
#10yrsago If you’re suspected of drug involvement, America takes your house; HSBC admits to laundering cartel billions, loses five weeks’ income and execs have to partially defer bonuses web.archive.org/web/2012122101… 11/
#10yrsago Anonymous declares religious war on Westboro Baptist Church arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20…

#10yrsago Woman gets stem-cell “wrinkle treatment,” grows extra bones in her eye-socket scientificamerican.com/article/stem-c… 12/
#5yrsago Rich people in Bristol install anti-bird spikes in trees to keep shit off their cars, rendering trees “literally uninhabitable” by local wildlife independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… 13/
#5yrsago Wells Fargo CEO promises to spend not one cent of the GOP tax gift on investment or wages thinkprogress.org/wells-fargo-ce…

#5yrsago Only Chinese companies will be allowed to map Chinese roads thedrive.com/tech/17001/chi… 14/
#5yrsago Trump’s Department of Labor proposes rule that lets employers steal employees’ tips epi.org/publication/em…

#5yrsago Stop charging AT-ATs (What the Rebellion should do in order to improve its anti-Empire tactics) wired.com/story/star-war… 15/
#5yrsago The Trumpdroid at Disney’s Hall of Presidents looks an awful lot like a hastily modded Hillarybot

#5yrsago Superb science fiction story in the form of a list of failed attempts to stave off climate extinction vice.com/en/article/xwv… 16/
#5yrsago The final draft of the GOP tax plan transfers even more wealth to the 1%: now they get 83% taxpolicycenter.org/publications/d… 17/
#5yrsago CBD is a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana that shows promise in epilepsy and pain therapy, so the DEA wants to class it with heroin arstechnica.com/science/2017/1… 18/
#5yrsago @EFF to US Copyright Office: fix the DRM rules that stop us from fixing our stuff, make fair use, and make IoT gadgets work the way we want eff.org/press/releases…

#5yrsago The Donald Trump droid is live at Disney World’s Hall of Presidents disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/12/t… 19/
#5yrsago Ted Chiang: Elon Musk’s fear of runaway AI is a projection of his repressed terror of runaway corporations buzzfeednews.com/article/tedchi… 20/
#5yrsago The Tea Party’s baseless claims of IRS discrimination left the agency on life-support, unable to police dark money gushing through “charities” washingtonpost.com/investigations… 21/
#5yrsago Anatomy of how crooks use financial secrecy in the UK and New Zealand to rip off international investors with impunity interest.co.nz/business/91250… 22/
#5yrsago When Justin Trudeau was in opposition, he voted for Canada’s PATRIOT Act but promised to fix it; instead he’s making it much, much worse citizenlab.ca/2017/12/citize… 23/
#5yrsago As climate deniers claim credit for killing Net Neutrality, the FCC’s internal auditor reveals that Neutracide was based on a lie vice.com/en/article/vby… 24/
#5yrsago EPA employees who spoke out about Trump are having their emails ransacked, and the EPA’s new “monitoring” firm is linked to a GOP oppo research firm nytimes.com/2017/12/17/us/… 25/
#5yrsago China will collect the DNA of every adult in Xinjiang province, where Uyghur people are systematically oppressed techdirt.com/2017/12/18/chi…

#5yrsago Female adolescent macaques practice sex by mounting male deer link.springer.com/article/10.100… 26/
Friday's threads: The antitrust Twilight Zone; and more!

27/
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… 28/
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… 29/
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/ 30/
Upcoming appearances:

* Library Learning Experience/@ALALibrary (New Orleans), 1/27-30
2023.alaliblearnx.org/cory-doctorow

* Chokepoint Capitalism: Can It Be Defeated? (@UCLLaws), 2/1
ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/20…

* @Aus_Digital Copyright Forum (Canberra), 2/17:
digital.org.au/2022/11/08/doc… 31/
Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy (Brussels), 3/2:
brusselsconference.com/registration
fwean 32/
Recent appearances:

* New Books in Public Policy (@PitPolicy):
open.spotify.com/episode/2niuM0…

* How to take back the arts from Big Tech (@TheRealNews)


* @dartsandletters:
dartsandletters.ca/2022/12/12/ep7… 33/
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/2022/12/19/bet… 34/
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 "'Metaverse' means 'pivot to video'"

doctorow.medium.com/metaverse-mean… 35/
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 36/
Are you trying to wean yourself off Big Tech? You can read my work elsewhere, but it is now a #TwitterCrime to tell you how. Please visit my site, pluralistic.net, for links to find me on less-unhinged places (I can only imagine that my days here are numbered). 37/

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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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