Anti-interoperability, vendor lock-in, and high switching costs (with Cory Doctorow)

Dec 7, 2022 53m 42s 14 insights Episode Page ↗
Spencer Greenberg and Cory Doctorow discuss the growing influence of large tech companies, the critical role of interoperability for user control, and the legal battles around software modification. They explore how to prevent tech catastrophes and address issues like high switching costs and corporate power.
Actionable Insights

1. Advocate for Privacy Laws

Support and advocate for the establishment of a freestanding federal privacy law with a private right of action, enabling individuals to sue for privacy violations and hold all parties, including tech giants, accountable.

2. Prioritize Internet Infrastructure

Focus efforts on improving the fundamental structure of the internet and reducing the power of giant companies, rather than attempting to perfect individual platforms, as the internet is a shared resource.

3. Mandate Government Interoperability

Advocate for all levels of government, including school districts, to mandate interoperability in their procurement guidelines, refusing to buy proprietary tools without assurances against vendor lock-in and for modification rights.

4. Support Access Act Legislation

Advocate for legislation like the Access Act, which mandates large tech firms to expose APIs for interoperability to third parties, under strict privacy rules and oversight from a joint committee.

5. Protect Interoperability Legally

Advocate for laws that provide a legal defense for bona fide interoperability efforts, even if they technically infringe on copyright, patent, or terms of service, provided no other laws (like privacy) are violated.

6. Appoint Special Masters

Advocate for regulatory bodies like the FTC to appoint special masters as part of settlement agreements with monopolistic tech companies, ensuring that legal threats defend users rather than stifle interoperability.

7. Unwind Deceptive Mergers

Advocate for unwinding corporate mergers that were approved based on false pretenses or lies to regulators, rather than imposing fines, to deter future deceptive practices.

8. Break Up Harmful Monopolies

Advocate for breaking up large companies whose scale directly causes harm to society, especially when other remedies like fines have proven ineffective in moderating their conduct.

9. Migrate Groups Off Platforms

For groups stuck on monopolized platforms, use bots and scrapers to enable communication with an alternative service, gradually migrating members by showing off-platform activity and then severing the link once a critical mass is reached.

10. Customize Your Technology

Alter the software and technology you use to make it work exactly how you want it to, rather than compromising on its default design.

11. Improve Facebook Experience

Manually unfollow all friends, pages, and groups on Facebook to eliminate the newsfeed, allowing you to selectively view content and potentially reduce time spent on the platform while improving satisfaction.

12. Monitor Political Ads

Volunteer for projects like NYU’s Ad Observatory by running a browser plugin that collects political ads you see on Facebook, contributing to public research on ad enforcement and disinformation.

13. Support Extreme Poverty Directly

Send money directly to people in extreme poverty via GiveDirectly.org/thinking, allowing them to use the funds for their most pressing needs, as they benefit significantly from even small cash infusions.

14. Cultivate Diverse Hobbies

Engage in a variety of non-work-related hobbies like bouldering, mixed martial arts, running psychology studies, and writing essays, even if amateur, for enjoyment and personal fulfillment.