There's one thing EVERY government can do to shrink Big Tech: The path to a post-American internet.

mamot.fr/@pluralistic/11547621…

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Cory Doctorow

2025-11-01 19:59:05

As the punchline goes, "If you wanted to get there, I wouldn't start from here." It's particularly applicable to monopolies: once a company has a monopoly, it gains the power to block new companies from competing, and also the power to capture governments and thwart attempts to regulate or break it up.

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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/2025/11/01/red…

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Pluralistic: There’s one thing EVERY government can do to shrink Big Tech (01 Nov 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

^{pluralistic.net}

Hey look at this

* The Forgotten History of Socialism and the Occult jacobin.com/2025/10/socialism-…

* Study: AI Models Trained On Clickbait Slop Result In AI ‘Brain Rot,’ ‘Hostility’ techdirt.com/2025/10/31/study-…

* The Validation Machines theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

* The Department of Defense Wants Less Proof its Software Works eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/depa…

* Ireland: Adopt new, transparent process to appoint Data Protection Commissioner article19.org/resources/irelan…

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#20yrsago Sony DRM uses black-hat rootkits web.archive.org/web/2005110205…

#20yrsago Suncomm encourages people to break its DRM web.archive.org/web/2005111611…

#20yrsago Public Enemy’s Internet strategy web.archive.org/web/2005110305…

#10yrsago Petition: Rename Stephen Harper to “Calgary International Airport” change.org/p/rename-stephen-ha…

#10yrsago Hallowe’en with NYC’s super-rich nytimes.com/slideshow/2015/10/…

#5yrsago D2020 pluralistic.net/2020/10/31/wal…

#5yrsago The Americans pluralistic.net/2020/10/31/wal…

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Yesterday's threads: The internet was made for privacy; and more!

mamot.fr/@pluralistic/11546986…

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Cory Doctorow

2025-10-31 17:06:17

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The internet was made for privacy; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2025/10/31/los…

#Pluralistic

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Pluralistic: The internet was made for privacy (31 Oct 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

^{pluralistic.net}

My latest novel is "Picks and Shovels," a historical technothriller set in the Weird Era of the PC, about Ponzi schemes, techbros, and the dawn of enshittification:

us.macmillan.com/books/9781250…

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My latest nonfiction book is the internationally bestselling "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," from MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux:

us.macmillan.com/books/9780374…

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Upcoming appearances:

* Virtual: Peoples and Things with danah boyd and Lee Vinsel, Nov 3
youtube.com/live/WjFvGPLpskk

* #Miami: Enshittification at Books & Books, Nov 5
eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-wi…

* #Miami: Cloudfest, Nov 6
cloudfest.com/usa/

* #Burbank: Burbank Book Festival, Nov 8
burbankbookfestival.com/

* #Lisbon: A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet, with Rabble (Web Summit), Nov 12
websummit.com/sessions/lis25/9…

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Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Cardiff: Hay Festival After Hours, Nov 13
hayfestival.com/c-203-hay-fest…

* #Oxford: Enshittification and Extraction: The Internet Sucks Now with Tim Wu at Rawley House (Oxford Internet Institute), Nov 14
oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/event…

* #London: Enshittification with Sarah Wynn-Williams and Chris Morris, Nov 15
barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/…

* #London: Downstream IRL with Aaron Bastani (Novara Media), Nov 17
dice.fm/partner/tickets/event/…

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Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #London: Enshittification with Carole Cadwalladr (Frontline Club), Nov 18
eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-conversa…

* Virtual: Enshittification with Vass Bednar (Vancouver Public Library), Nov 21
crowdcast.io/@bclibraries-pres…

* #Seattle: Neuroscience, AI and Society (University of Washington), Dec 4
compneuro.washington.edu/news-…

* #Madison, CT: Enshittification at RJ Julia, Dec 8
rjjulia.com/event/2025-12-08/c…

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