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Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
@doctorow
Feb 7, 2023 • 23 tweets • 23 min read • Read on X
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Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: The Collective Intelligence Institute; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2023/02/07/ful…

#Pluralistic 1/
This week (Feb 8-17), I'll be in #Australia, touring my book #ChokepointCapitalism* with my co-author, @rgibli. We'll be in #Brisbane today (Feb 8 - in Australia!), and then a remote event for #NZ on Feb 13. Next: #Melbourne, #Sydney & #Canberra.

chokepointcapitalism.com 2/
The Collective Intelligence Institute: Asking more than 'what technology does' and demanding to know who it does it FOR and who it does it TO.

3/
Hey look at this

* After 20 years I'm allowed to change the images BRIEFLY. And only once!! qwantz.com/index.php?comi… (h/t @Slashdot)

* We come to bury #ChatGPT, not to praise it danmcquillan.org/chatgpt.html (h/t JWZ)

* Economic Incentives blog.dshr.org/2023/02/econom… 4/
#20yrsago @RudyTheElder reviews @GreatDismal wired.com/2003/02/logoma…

#5yrsago Elite Baltimore police unit robbed with impunity, sold guns and drugs, loaned guns and armor to civilians sent to commit robberies nytimes.com/2018/02/06/us/… 5/
#5yrsago Trump wants to cap lifetime #Medicaid benefits, even for disabled people, the chronically ill, and people with Alzheimer’s mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-… 6/
#5yrsago #Oklahoma schools go on 4-day weeks so teachers can work at Walmart on Mondays to make rent economist.com/united-states/… 7/
#5yrsago 25 years ago, a mutant American crayfish turned to asexual reproduction, and all of Europe’s lakes are filling up with its clones nytimes.com/2018/02/05/sci… 8/
#5yrsago California State Senator wants to remake cities with midrises near public transit, but he is facing a wave of #nimbyism extranewsfeed.com/my-transit-den… 9/
#5yrsago Facebook hired a pollster to track Zuck’s public image, but he quit because working for Facebook filled him with shame theverge.com/2018/2/6/16976…

#5yrsago RIP John Perry @Barlow, 1947-2018 memex.craphound.com/2018/02/07/rip… 10/
#5yrsago The myth of the “genius creator” requires that we ignore the people they build on, or insist they don’t matter web.archive.org/web/2018022215… 11/
Yesterday's threads: Bruce Schneier's "A Hacker's Mind"; and more!

12/
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… 13/
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… 14/
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/ 15/
Upcoming appearances:

* Avid Reader (#Brisbane), 2/8
avidreader.com.au/pages/6834-Cho…

* Chokepoint Capitalism: A Kiwi Perspective, 2/13
…alism-a-kiwi-perspective.lilregie.com/booking/attend…

* Future of Arts/Culture/Tech, @ACMI, (#Melbourne), 2/14
acmi.net.au/whats-on/in-co… 16/
Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* @statelibrarynsw (#Sydney), 2/15
sl.nsw.gov.au/events/chokepo…

* ANU/@canberratimes Meet The Author (#Canberra), 2/16
anu.edu.au/events/in-conv…

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

* #Antitrust, Regulation & Political Economy (#Brussels), 3/2:
brusselsconference.com/registration 18/
Recent appearances:

* Chokepoint Capitalism: Can It Be Defeated? (@ucl_ibil):


* A theory of how internet platforms die (@Marketplace Tech)
marketplace.org/shows/marketpl…

* Graeber's Pirate Enlightment (Everyday Anarchism)
pca.st/w58ald39 19/
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/2023/02/07/ful… 20/
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 "Small Government: refs have to be more powerful than players"

doctorow.medium.com/small-governme… 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? 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). 23/

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More from @doctorow

Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
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
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
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
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
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
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
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
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
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
Cory Doctorow NONCONSENSUAL BLUE TICK Profile picture
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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