6 ms·

> A handful of companies have established chokepoints between buyers and sellers, performers and audiences, workers and employers, as well as families and commu

> A handful of companies have established chokepoints between buyers and sellers, performers and audiences, workers and employers, as well as families and communities. When those companies refuse to deal with you, your digital life grinds to a halt This short paragraph summarizes the (ex-ante) improbably unusual situation we have drifted into. The negatively affected stakeholders being enumerated are more or less the entire society. These gatekeepers and chokepoint operators do have a few natural allies (the captured politicos, others in direct or indirect payroll, externality-blind markets). Yet somehow they can bully into submission basically the entire universe. With its infinite financial, political, intellectual resources. Rather strange dont you think? It almost as if they already operate effective mind control at systemic scale.

HPsquared 3y ago
See also the history of railroads and telecoms.
- version_five 3y ago
  Also every industry in Canada
  - mig39 3y ago
    The solution in Canada is to break up some of these huge companies. The free market can solve things, but only if there's a free market. When you have 1 or 2 companies, there's no competition.
    - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
      > The solution in Canada is to break up some of these huge companies. The free market can solve things, but only if there's a free market. I'm not familiar with Canada but this sounds like oversight there is similar to how the US DoJ operates - which is to say it has a long history of rubberstamping (massive, competition-killing) mergers
    - version_five 3y ago
      It's more allowing foreign competition. If you let US (or whoever) telecom into Canada, Rogers Bell and Telus would have to get their act together or die overnight. Same with banking, air travel, etc. Canadas oligarchs have complete regulatory capture so they don't have to worry about being competitive, that's the problem.
- nologic01 3y ago
  The difference is one of degree (comprehensiveness) and potential impact. Total control of a mobility mode is bad, total control of a certain type of communication infrastructure is worse, but the fingeprinting and tracking and exploitation of every single digital device and information exchange is just out of the scale.
clucas 3y ago
> as if they already operate effective mind control at systemic scale. If the logical conclusion of your reasoning is a mass mind control conspiracy, you should revisit your assumptions. > somehow they can bully into submission basically the entire universe I don't think anyone is bullying all of society. I think most people just don't care. It's really not that crazy, no mind control involved. Just good old fashioned apathy and ignorance.
- sharemywin 3y ago
  it's like any kind of other long tail problem. if it doesn't directly effect you or someone you know you generally don't care about it too much as an aggregate.
- xphos 3y ago
  If they can kick the former president off his platform they can bully joe schmo off there platform. Whether you agree with the former president, he was in theory the most powerful person on the planet and had to submit to the powers of large tech companies. I think the idea that most people don't care is not a supported or found assumption either rather you just asserted it.
  - PopAlongKid 3y ago
    >he was in theory the most powerful person on the planet You need to provide a practical definition of "most powerful" before your phrase can be evaluated.
    - xphos 3y ago
      He had the ability to give the order to start thermonuclear war and end humanity... He had the ability to radically tariffing and regulatory execution in America. I argue that it something that a more precise definition is excels from but I also think a more robust definition isn't really required to demonstrate the point. I'd felt that the president of the US is extremely powerful more so either one of us most likely
  - 3y ago
sharemywin 3y ago
We need rules that make it easier to transfer data(including addresses), control your own privacy, more compatible options for storing, searching, sorting, ranking, filtering data.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

HPsquared 3y ago

See also the history of railroads and telecoms.

version_five 3y ago
Also every industry in Canada
- mig39 3y ago
  The solution in Canada is to break up some of these huge companies. The free market can solve things, but only if there's a free market. When you have 1 or 2 companies, there's no competition.
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    > The solution in Canada is to break up some of these huge companies. The free market can solve things, but only if there's a free market. I'm not familiar with Canada but this sounds like oversight there is similar to how the US DoJ operates - which is to say it has a long history of rubberstamping (massive, competition-killing) mergers
  - version_five 3y ago
    It's more allowing foreign competition. If you let US (or whoever) telecom into Canada, Rogers Bell and Telus would have to get their act together or die overnight. Same with banking, air travel, etc. Canadas oligarchs have complete regulatory capture so they don't have to worry about being competitive, that's the problem.
nologic01 3y ago
The difference is one of degree (comprehensiveness) and potential impact. Total control of a mobility mode is bad, total control of a certain type of communication infrastructure is worse, but the fingeprinting and tracking and exploitation of every single digital device and information exchange is just out of the scale.

clucas 3y ago

> as if they already operate effective mind control at systemic scale. If the logical conclusion of your reasoning is a mass mind control conspiracy, you should revisit your assumptions. > somehow they can bully into submission basically the entire universe I don't think anyone is bullying all of society. I think most people just don't care. It's really not that crazy, no mind control involved. Just good old fashioned apathy and ignorance.

sharemywin 3y ago
it's like any kind of other long tail problem. if it doesn't directly effect you or someone you know you generally don't care about it too much as an aggregate.
xphos 3y ago
If they can kick the former president off his platform they can bully joe schmo off there platform. Whether you agree with the former president, he was in theory the most powerful person on the planet and had to submit to the powers of large tech companies. I think the idea that most people don't care is not a supported or found assumption either rather you just asserted it.
- PopAlongKid 3y ago
  >he was in theory the most powerful person on the planet You need to provide a practical definition of "most powerful" before your phrase can be evaluated.
  - xphos 3y ago
    He had the ability to give the order to start thermonuclear war and end humanity... He had the ability to radically tariffing and regulatory execution in America. I argue that it something that a more precise definition is excels from but I also think a more robust definition isn't really required to demonstrate the point. I'd felt that the president of the US is extremely powerful more so either one of us most likely
- 3y ago

sharemywin 3y ago

We need rules that make it easier to transfer data(including addresses), control your own privacy, more compatible options for storing, searching, sorting, ranking, filtering data.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]