Cory Doctorow, a renowned science fiction writer and tech activist, dives deep into the Internet's evolution and its monopolistic challenges. He explores how major tech companies have concentrated power and influenced our information diet. The discussion touches on the decline of antitrust laws, online harassment, and how users often trade freedom for convenience within corporate 'walled gardens.' Doctorow also emphasizes the need for legal reforms to restore competition and trust in an age of misinformation and economic disparity.
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insights INSIGHT
Internet Equilibrium
The internet, dominated by a few large companies, is not in equilibrium.
This concentration has negative consequences for the internet and human rights.
insights INSIGHT
Regulation's Risk
Regulating large tech companies like Facebook could solidify their monopolies.
This would prevent smaller competitors from emerging and challenging their dominance.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Google's Growth
Google primarily grew through acquisitions, not internal product development.
This strategy would have been illegal under pre-Reagan antitrust laws.
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In *The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind*, James Boyle explores the importance of the public domain and its erosion due to modern intellectual property laws. He argues that a balance between protected and free ideas is crucial for innovation and culture. The book discusses issues like gene sequences, musical sampling, and Internet file sharing, advocating for a movement to preserve the public domain akin to the environmental movement.
The Tragedy of the Commons
Garrett Hardin
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson
Published in 1962, 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carson is a seminal work in environmental science. The book documents the harmful effects of DDT and other pesticides on the environment, including their impact on bird populations, other wildlife, and human health. Carson argued that these substances should be called 'biocides' due to their broad impact on ecosystems. The book was serialized in 'The New Yorker' before its full publication and generated significant public and scientific debate. It led to a reversal in U.S. pesticide policy, the banning of DDT for agricultural use in 1972, and the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Carson's work challenged the prevailing attitudes towards scientific progress and human control over nature, advocating for responsible and careful use of pesticides and highlighting the need for environmental stewardship.
The big picture
Derek Monsey
Radicalized
Four Tales of Our Present Moment
Cory Doctorow
Getting Things Done
David Allen
Getting Things Done (GTD) is a personal productivity system developed by David Allen. The book provides a detailed methodology for managing tasks, projects, and information, emphasizing the importance of capturing all tasks and ideas, clarifying their meaning, organizing them into actionable lists, reviewing the system regularly, and engaging in the tasks. The GTD method is designed to reduce stress and increase productivity by externalizing tasks and using a trusted system to manage them. The book is divided into three parts, covering the overview of the system, its implementation, and the deeper benefits of integrating GTD into one's work and life[2][3][5].
1984
None
George Orwell
Published in 1949, '1984' is a cautionary tale by George Orwell that explores the dangers of totalitarianism. The novel is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into three super-states, with the protagonist Winston Smith living in Oceania, ruled by the mysterious and omnipotent leader Big Brother. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the Party's ever-changing narrative. He begins an illicit love affair with Julia and starts to rebel against the Party, but they are eventually caught and subjected to brutal torture and indoctrination. The novel highlights themes of government surveillance, manipulation of language and history, and the suppression of individual freedom and independent thought.
Like so many technological innovations, the internet is something that burst on the scene and pervaded human life well before we had time to sit down and think through how something like that should work and how it should be organized. In multiple ways — as a blogger, activist, fiction writer, and more — Cory Doctorow has been thinking about how the internet is affecting our lives since the very beginning. He has been especially interested in legal issues surrounding copyright, publishing, and free speech, and recently his attention has turned to broader economic concerns. We talk about how the internet has become largely organized through just a small number of quasi-monopolistic portals, how this affects the ways in which we gather information and decide whether to trust outside sources, and where things might go from here.
Cory Doctorow is a science fiction writer, activist, journalist, and blogger. He is a co-editor of the website Boing Boing, and works as a special consultant for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He is the author of the nonfiction book Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free as well as science-fiction works such as Walkaway and Radicalized. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Open University, where he is also a Visiting Professor, as well as being an MIT Media Lab Research Affiliate and a Visiting Professor of Practice at the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science.
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas 
