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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 months

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“If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing”

20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with Chris Anderson, who was then the editor in chief of Wired. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing Wired reviews of DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:

https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html

I replied in public, telling him that he'd misunderstood. This wasn't an issue of ideological purity – it was about good reviewing practice. Wired was telling readers to buy a product because it had features x, y and z, but at any time in the future, without warning, without recourse, the vendor could switch off any of those features:

https://memex.craphound.com/2004/12/29/cory-responds-to-wired-editor-on-drm/

I proposed that all Wired endorsements for DRM-encumbered products should come with this disclaimer:

WARNING: THIS DEVICE’S FEATURES ARE SUBJECT TO REVOCATION WITHOUT NOTICE, ACCORDING TO TERMS SET OUT IN SECRET NEGOTIATIONS. YOUR INVESTMENT IS CONTINGENT ON THE GOODWILL OF THE WORLD’S MOST PARANOID, TECHNOPHOBIC ENTERTAINMENT EXECS. THIS DEVICE AND DEVICES LIKE IT ARE TYPICALLY USED TO CHARGE YOU FOR THINGS YOU USED TO GET FOR FREE — BE SURE TO FACTOR IN THE PRICE OF BUYING ALL YOUR MEDIA OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AT NO TIME IN HISTORY HAS ANY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY GOTTEN A SWEET DEAL LIKE THIS FROM THE ELECTRONICS PEOPLE, BUT THIS TIME THEY’RE GETTING A TOTAL WALK. HERE, PUT THIS IN YOUR MOUTH, IT’LL MUFFLE YOUR WHIMPERS.

Wired didn't take me up on this suggestion.

But I was right. The ability to change features, prices, and availability of things you've already paid for is a powerful temptation to corporations. Inkjet printers were always a sleazy business, but once these printers got directly connected to the internet, companies like HP started pushing out "security updates" that modified your printer to make it reject the third-party ink you'd paid for:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Now, this scam wouldn't work if you could just put things back the way they were before the "update," which is where the DRM comes in. A thicket of IP laws make reverse-engineering DRM-encumbered products into a felony. Combine always-on network access with indiscriminate criminalization of user modification, and the enshittification will follow, as surely as night follows day.

This is the root of all the right to repair shenanigans. Sure, companies withhold access to diagnostic codes and parts, but codes can be extracted and parts can be cloned. The real teeth in blocking repair comes from the law, not the tech. The company that makes McDonald's wildly unreliable McFlurry machines makes a fortune charging franchisees to fix these eternally broken appliances. When a third party threatened this racket by reverse-engineering the DRM that blocked independent repair, they got buried in legal threats:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cold-war

Everybody loves this racket. In Poland, a team of security researchers at the OhMyHack conference just presented their teardown of the anti-repair features in NEWAG Impuls locomotives. NEWAG boobytrapped their trains to try and detect if they've been independently serviced, and to respond to any unauthorized repairs by bricking themselves:

https://mamot.fr/@[email protected]/111528162905209453

Poland is part of the EU, meaning that they are required to uphold the provisions of the 2001 EU Copyright Directive, including Article 6, which bans this kind of reverse-engineering. The researchers are planning to present their work again at the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg this month – Germany is also a party to the EUCD. The threat to researchers from presenting this work is real – but so is the threat to conferences that host them:

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/researchers-face-legal-threats-over-sdmi-hack/

20 years ago, Chris Anderson told me that it was unrealistic to expect tech companies to refuse demands for DRM from the entertainment companies whose media they hoped to play. My argument – then and now – was that any tech company that sells you a gadget that can have its features revoked is defrauding you. You're paying for x, y and z – and if they are contractually required to remove x and y on demand, they are selling you something that you can't rely on, without making that clear to you.

But it's worse than that. When a tech company designs a device for remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrades, they invite both external and internal parties to demand those downgrades. Like Pavel Chekov says, a phaser on the bridge in Act I is going to go off by Act III. Selling a product that can be remotely, irreversibly, nonconsensually downgraded inevitably results in the worst person at the product-planning meeting proposing to do so. The fact that there are no penalties for doing so makes it impossible for the better people in that meeting to win the ensuing argument, leading to the moral injury of seeing a product you care about reduced to a pile of shit:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification

But even if everyone at that table is a swell egg who wouldn't dream of enshittifying the product, the existence of a remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrade feature makes the product vulnerable to external actors who will demand that it be used. Back in 2022, Adobe informed its customers that it had lost its deal to include Pantone colors in Photoshop, Illustrator and other "software as a service" packages. As a result, users would now have to start paying a monthly fee to see their own, completed images. Fail to pay the fee and all the Pantone-coded pixels in your artwork would just show up as black:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/28/fade-to-black/#trust-the-process

Adobe blamed this on Pantone, and there was lots of speculation about what had happened. Had Pantone jacked up its price to Adobe, so Adobe passed the price on to its users in the hopes of embarrassing Pantone? Who knows? Who can know? That's the point: you invested in Photoshop, you spent money and time creating images with it, but you have no way to know whether or how you'll be able to access those images in the future. Those terms can change at any time, and if you don't like it, you can go fuck yourself.

These companies are all run by CEOs who got their MBAs at Darth Vader University, where the first lesson is "I have altered the deal, pray I don't alter it further." Adobe chose to design its software so it would be vulnerable to this kind of demand, and then its customers paid for that choice. Sure, Pantone are dicks, but this is Adobe's fault. They stuck a KICK ME sign to your back, and Pantone obliged.

This keeps happening and it's gonna keep happening. Last week, Playstation owners who'd bought (or "bought") Warner TV shows got messages telling them that Warner had walked away from its deal to sell videos through the Playstation store, and so all the videos they'd paid for were going to be deleted forever. They wouldn't even get refunds (to be clear, refunds would also be bullshit – when I was a bookseller, I didn't get to break into your house and steal the books I'd sold you, not even if I left some cash on your kitchen table).

Sure, Warner is an unbelievably shitty company run by the single most guillotineable executive in all of Southern California, the loathsome David Zaslav, who oversaw the merger of Warner with Discovery. Zaslav is the creep who figured out that he could make more money cancelling completed movies and TV shows and taking a tax writeoff than he stood to make by releasing them:

https://aftermath.site/there-is-no-piracy-without-ownership

Imagine putting years of your life into making a program – showing up on set at 5AM and leaving your kids to get their own breakfast, performing stunts that could maim or kill you, working 16-hour days during the acute phase of the covid pandemic and driving home in the night, only to have this absolute turd of a man delete the program before anyone could see it, forever, to get a minor tax advantage. Talk about moral injury!

But without Sony's complicity in designing a remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrade feature into the Playstation, Zaslav's war on art and creative workers would be limited to material that hadn't been released yet. Thanks to Sony's awful choices, David Zaslav can break into your house, steal your movies – and he doesn't even have to leave a twenty on your kitchen table.

The point here – the point I made 20 years ago to Chris Anderson – is that this is the foreseeable, inevitable result of designing devices for remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrades. Anyone who was paying attention should have figured that out in the GW Bush administration. Anyone who does this today? Absolute flaming garbage.

Sure, Zaslav deserves to be staked out over an anthill and slathered in high-fructose corn syrup. But save the next anthill for the Sony exec who shipped a product that would let Zaslav come into your home and rob you. That piece of shit knew what they were doing and they did it anyway. Fuck them. Sideways. With a brick.

Meanwhile, the studios keep making the case for stealing movies rather than paying for them. As Tyler James Hill wrote: "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing":

https://bsky.app/profile/tylerjameshill.bsky.social/post/3kflw2lvam42n

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/08/playstationed/#tyler-james-hill

Image: Alan Levine (modified) https://pxhere.com/en/photo/218986

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

#pluralistic #playstation #sony #copyright #copyfight #drm #monopoly #enshittification #batgirl #road runner #financiazation #the end of ownership #ip

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taikeero-lecoredier · 2 months

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(BAD) UPDATE ON KOSA !

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act

This may seem grim but we Can still stop this bill if we focus on contacting senators /the House and keep spreading the word.

PLEASE REBLOG !

Join our Discord server to organize against it :

https://discord.gg/pwTSXZMxnH

TAKE ACTION HERE

https://www.badinternetbills.com/

MORE INFO HERE

https://www.tumblr.com/taikeero-lecoredier/709890130733826048/these-twos-bills-are-very-bad-for-the-future-of

SPREAD THE WORD !

#kosa #earn it act #internet censorship #signal boost

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picturejasper20 · 14 days

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Wow... people having to identify themselves to a government because of they are part of a group that is seen as ¨other¨ or because they want to learn about a certain topic...where i have seen this before...

I don't know... maybe what it is considered one of the biggest red flags in steps of dehumanization of groups, mainly minorities?

Btw, this is what the people behind KOSA are trying to impose in all the United States of America.

[Image ID: News politcs article about USA politics that says ¨Kansas governor passes law requiring ID to view acts of 'homosexuality' online, vetoes anti-LGBTQ+ bill¨ /.End ID]

Link to the article: https://www.advocate.com/politics/kansas-veto-age-verification-gender-affirming-care-abortion

Edit: Since this gained more notes, for those who don't know KOSA is, it is a USA bill that was reintroduced on May 2023 (last year). It is called ¨Kids Online Safety Act¨ (KOSA for short). It has been introduced and reintroduced for a while now since 2022. It is meant with the intention to ¨protect kids¨ by restricting their use of internet by pushing age restrictions and people having to present their ID to use internet or access certain websites, quite similar to the Kansas state bill that got passed. Many groups and people have criticized this bill for the potential censorship it can come with it and do more harm to the kids than help them. Possible censorship that has been suggested this bill can bring is LGBT+ content, politics and news, mental health search, political and social opinions in general (adults included). What is more, it has been put into question the possible invasion of privacy for both minors and adults by having to share an identification to use certain websites. That people could get censored or doxxed by doing this.

As for the bill itself, there was a hearing earlier today in the Senate. ( April 17th-Wednesday). It could take a while before it gets voted and has to pass different stages. Then it would take months (18 months) to be implemented if it gets passed.

I'm not American myself, so i'm not sure how much i can do about this. What i do recommend is making calls to senators and people involved in pushing this bill to make clear your disapproval of it. Try sign petitions or just telling others about it.

Some sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_Online_Safety_Act https://www.stopkosa.com/ https://www.badinternetbills.com/ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act

Website to keep track of the KOSA bill movements and cosponsors of the bill:

#kosa bill #stop kosa #kosa #lgbt #internet #USA #tumblr

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saintkevorkian · 1 year

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#i confess --i joined tumour site for the deeplinking but ive stayed for the repetition of words & phrases #not really inward but i find it difficult to recall things verbatim

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kochava1 · 2 years

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Create cross-platform deep links across online and offline marketing channels with built-in support for Universal Links & App Links, App Clips & Instant Apps, and much more. For more, please visit: https://www.kochava.com/deep-linking/

#deeplink

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lordoftablecloths · 2 months

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stopkosa.com

KOSA or the Kids Online Safety Act is an Internet bill being pushed by the American government. It claims its purpose is to "protect" kids, but really its methods of enforcing this is mass censorship and control of the Internet. The passing of this bill would lead to LGBTQ+ related information, reproductive healthcare, and other topics that government officials may find "dangerous" to children be restricted or censored.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

In the website linked above, there is a petition you can sign as well as a pre-filled message you can send. You can also write to your representatives, and if you don't want to come up with an entire message, I've attached sample scripts. Also, go to badinternetbills.com for another petition that references similar bills. For more information about KOSA, you can see this article: eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/don… .

Spread information about this, and do what you can. This bill being passed would mean an era of censorship for the Internet.

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anobjectshowguy · 2 months

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I hope people in the OSC (and other fandoms in general) who are ok with or neutral about Kosa realize that not only will we lose a bunch of platforms that allow us to interact with each other (Tumblr, discord, Ao3, Wattpad, Twitter, YouTube, etc) but will also get rid of at least 80-95% of our fandom.

The OSC consists mostly of people between 13-17 who (if Kosa goes through the Senate and Houses of Representatives and gets passed as a law) will most likely no longer have access to YouTube and other social platforms which actively kills almost all the people who read and watch Object Shows!

By visiting and sharing animated shows like II or BFDI those creators make money which gives them the means to keep making their shows and paying their animators, voice actors, writers and so much more. This bill will actively get rid of most of the people who watch these shows which will cause a large loss in support and revenue for these creators and will most likely mean the end for any smaller object show.

Object show comics rely on people sharing them around in fandom spaces since they’re not animated and put on YouTube like animated object shows are. By losing these spaces and the people who support their content these creators will no longer be able to reach a large audience and get the support they need to continue their comics. This means that we will lose a lot of the comics that the OSC has!

Most of the content you see in the OSC is made by minors, which this bill will actively destroy and thus kill this fandom and many others!

So I am begging of you OSC and other communities, Please please please sign petitions, tell your senators and representatives that you don’t want this bill to pass, and tell anyone that you can reach about how this Bill is a violation of privacy and minors' rights! Re-blog anything you see with helpful information about what Kosa is and keep talking about it! We need to tell people about it so that this doesn’t go through the Senate. Remember, the final day is February 26, we don’t have that long!!!

Here’s some helpful resources:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/07/you-can-help-stop-these-bad-internet-bills

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learnwithmearticles · 2 months

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A Violation of Two Amendments

If you’ve seen a lot of posts online about KOSA, it’s because it has the potential to drastically change the internet.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is a proposed bill receiving U.S. Democratic and Republican support.

It pulls on strong concerns about the safety of children, especially the fabricated concerns of LGBT+ topics propagandized by conservatives. It would permit the government to censor the internet at will, restricting what information is available online for everyone, even people in other countries.

The bill would permit attorneys general to prevent basic information about healthcare, mental health, world news, and more from being accessible online, keeping adults as well as children from finding important information and resources.

There are valid concerns about the internet and its ability to harm people, especially children. I have written a thesis specifically about the relationships between mental health and social media. In no way would I ever advocate for increased censorship in the way that this bill does.

It specifically violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, inserting governmental control over people’s speech, the sharing of news, and the sharing of opinions. This would be placing the responsibility of parenting on the government, and allowing them to determine exactly what children -and adults- are allowed to learn.

Furthermore, it is disguised as a bill to ‘protect children’, and that phrase itself has unfortunately become a dog whistle for conservatives referring to LGBT+ topics existing in the world. This bill is extremely dangerous to young LGBT+ individuals.

It is also dangerous to people of different races, nationalities, economic backgrounds, and gun owners. This is because it would virtually mandate age verification. This poses danger for children, people facing domestic abuse, and houseless people, as well as violating the Fourteenth Amendment, which asserts that the state cannot exert undue control over its citizens’ private lives.

Many organizations and websites have initiated petitions and calls to action to express disapproval of this bill, outlining its rights violations, and helping individuals find out how to contact their senators. Some of those resources are linked below.

Additional Resources

1.https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act

2. https://www.stopkosa.com/

3.https://www.change.org/p/save-our-free-and-open-internet-stop-the-kids-online-safety-act4. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/censorship-wont-make-kids-safe?nowrapper=true

#KOSA #kosa bill #stop kosa #politics #us politics #anonymity #privacy #activism #internet safety #homophobia #14th amendment #1st amendment #news

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coupomated · 7 months

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The Ultimate Guide to Building Affiliate Marketing Links and Deeplinks

Affiliate marketing is an increasingly popular way to monetize your online presence, but navigating the world of affiliate marketing links and deeplinks can be confusing. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down the differences between affiliate links and deep links, and explain how to build them from various top affiliate networks based in India.

Affiliate Marketing Links vs. Deeplinks: What’s the Difference?

Affiliate links are unique URLs that track sales or leads generated by an affiliate marketer. They typically contain a tracking code to identify the affiliate, ensuring they receive the appropriate commission for their marketing efforts. When a user clicks on an affiliate link, they are redirected to the merchant’s website, where they can make a purchase or complete an action that generates revenue for the affiliate.

An affiliate link for Ajio program from Admitad: https://ad.admitad.com/g/gobb106sd90f69be73f6a663530cb9/

Deeplinks, on the other hand, are a specialized form of affiliate links that direct users to specific product pages or content within a merchant’s website. They allow affiliates to promote specific products or deals, making their promotions more targeted and potentially more effective.

While affiliate links direct users to a generic homepage or landing page, deeplinks help users find exactly what they’re looking for, improving the user experience and increasing the likelihood of conversion.

A deeplink from Admitad for Ajio landing page containing products with 50 To 90 Percent Off https://ad.admitad.com/g/gobb106sd90f69be73f6a663530cb9/?ulp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ajio.com%2Fs%2F50-to-90-percent-off-5004-05761

Building Affiliate Links and Deeplinks from Various Affiliate Networks:

1. Admitad:

Admitad’s affiliate dashboard makes it easy to create both affiliate links and deeplinks. To build an affiliate link, simply locate the desired offer and click on the “Get Link” button. For deeplinks, click on the “Deeplink” tab within the offer, paste the specific URL from the merchant’s website, and click “Generate.” You’ll receive a unique URL that directs users to the specified page with your tracking code intact.

2. Optimise Media Group:

To create an affiliate link with Optimise Media Group, first log in to your account and navigate to the “Offers” section. Select the desired offer and click “Get Tracking Link.” For deeplinks, select the “Deeplink Generator” option, enter the target URL, and click “Generate.” This will provide a custom URL that directs users to the specified page while ensuring your affiliate tracking code is included.

3. VCommssion:

VCommssion offers a straightforward process for generating both affiliate links and deeplinks. Log in to your dashboard, locate the desired campaign, and click “Get Link” to generate an affiliate link. To create a deeplink, click “Deeplink Generator,” input the desired URL, and click “Generate Link.”

4. Clickonik:

With Clickonik, creating an affiliate link is as simple as logging in to your account, choosing the offer you want to promote, and clicking “Get Link.” To create a deeplink, head to the “Deeplink Generator” section, enter the desired URL, and click “Generate” to receive your custom URL.

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5. INRDeals:

INRDeals provides a user-friendly interface for generating affiliate links and deeplinks. To build an affiliate link, log in to your account, select the offer you want to

Promote, and click “Get Link.” For deeplinks, navigate to the “Deeplink Generator” section, input the target URL from the merchant’s website, and click “Generate.” Your custom URL will be provided, complete with your tracking code.

6. Cuelinks:

Cuelinks simplifies the process of creating both affiliate links and deeplinks. After logging in to your account, find the desired campaign and click “Get Link” to generate an affiliate link. To create a deeplink, head to the “Deeplink Generator” tab, enter the target URL, and click “Generate.” You’ll receive a unique URL that directs users to the specified page while incorporating your tracking code.

Conclusion:

Understanding the differences between affiliate links and deeplinks is crucial for optimizing your affiliate marketing efforts. By learning how to build both types of links from various affiliate networks such as Admitad, Optimise Media Group, VCommssion, Clickonik, INRDeals, and Cuelinks, you’ll be better equipped to create targeted promotions that drive conversions and boost your earnings.

Coupomated coupon API provides the affiliate link and deeplinks fully automatically once you have seeded your affiliate IDs in the panel. This saves tons of efforts for creating the links manually and pasting in the website.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is an affiliate marketing link?

An affiliate marketing link is a unique URL provided to affiliate marketers by affiliate programs or networks. It allows them to track the traffic and sales generated through their marketing efforts. When users click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, the affiliate marketer earns a commission.

2. What is the difference between a standard affiliate link and a deeplink?

A standard affiliate link typically directs users to the homepage of a merchant’s website. In contrast, a deeplink is a specialized affiliate link that directs users to a specific page or product on the merchant’s website, providing a more targeted and user-friendly experience.

3. How do I choose the right affiliate program for me?

When selecting an affiliate program, consider factors such as relevance to your niche, commission structure, cookie duration, and the availability of affiliate tools like banners and promotional content. Choose programs that align with your audience’s interests and needs.

4. Can I use affiliate links on social media platforms?

Yes, you can use affiliate links on social media platforms. However, be sure to follow the platform’s guidelines and disclose your affiliate relationship to your audience transparently.

5. Is it necessary to disclose my affiliate relationship to my audience?

Yes, it’s essential to disclose your affiliate relationship to maintain transparency and build trust with your audience. Most countries and affiliate networks have regulations that require affiliates to disclose their partnerships when promoting products or services.

6. How can I track the performance of my affiliate links?

You can track the performance of your affiliate links through analytics provided by the affiliate program or network. These analytics typically include data on clicks, conversions, revenue, and other relevant metrics.

7. Are deeplinks more effective than standard affiliate links?

Deeplinks can be more effective than standard affiliate links because they provide a more tailored user experience. By directing users to specific product pages or content that matches their interests, deeplinks can increase the chances of conversion.

8. What are some best practices for using affiliate links in blog content?

Best practices for using affiliate links in blog content include disclosing your affiliate relationship, using anchor text for links, testing and optimizing link placements, avoiding over-promotion, and staying updated on changes in affiliate programs and terms of service.

#Affiliate Marketing #affiliate marketing links #deeplinks #affiliate link #affiliate program

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starz4ruii · 2 months

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!PLEASE READ!

I see a lot of people saying to stop kosa and then giving no info about what kosa is.

So here are some sites to get educated about it- https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online

https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/about/issues/kids-online-safety-act

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/15/kids-online-safety-act-kosa-senate/

Please lmk if there are any helpful sites that you want me to add :]

#kosa bill #stop kosa #kosa #fyp #fypツ #fypシ #tumblr fyp #fypage #for you #please read #please reblog #please dont flop

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mostlysignssomeportents · 9 months

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Kickstarting a book to end enshittification, because Amazon will not carry it

My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it’s a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me — because Amazon refuses to sell my audio:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

Amazon owns Audible, the monopoly audiobook platform that controls >90% of the audio market. They require mandatory DRM for every book sold, locking those books forever to Amazon’s monopoly platform. If you break up with Amazon, you have to throw away your entire audiobook library.

That’s a hell of a lot of leverage to hand to any company, let alone a rapacious monopoly that ran a program targeting small publishers called “Project Gazelle,” where execs were ordered to attack indie publishers “the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle”:

https://www.businessinsider.com/sadistic-amazon-treated-book-sellers-the-way-a-cheetah-would-pursue-a-sickly-gazelle-2013-10

[Image ID: Journalist and novelist Doctorow (Red Team Blues) details a plan for how to break up Big Tech in this impassioned and perceptive manifesto….Doctorow’s sense of urgency is contagious -Publishers Weekly]

I won’t sell my work with DRM, because DRM is key to the enshittification of the internet. Enshittification is why the old, good internet died and became “five giant websites filled with screenshots of the other four” (h/t Tom Eastman). When a tech company can lock in its users and suppliers, it can drain value from both sides, using DRM and other lock-in gimmicks to keep their business even as they grow ever more miserable on the platform.

Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

[Image ID: A brilliant barn burner of a book. Cory is one of the sharpest tech critics, and he shows with fierce clarity how our computational future could be otherwise -Kate Crawford, author of The Atlas of AI”]

The Internet Con isn’t just an analysis of where enshittification comes from: it’s a detailed, shovel-ready policy prescription for halting enshittification, throwing it into reverse and bringing back the old, good internet.

How do we do that? With interoperability: the ability to plug new technology into those crapulent, decaying platform. Interop lets you choose which parts of the service you want and block the parts you don’t (think of how an adblocker lets you take the take-it-or-leave “offer” from a website and reply with “How about nah?”):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

But interop isn’t just about making platforms less terrible — it’s an explosive charge that demolishes walled gardens. With interop, you can leave a social media service, but keep talking to the people who stay. With interop, you can leave your mobile platform, but bring your apps and media with you to a rival’s service. With interop, you can break up with Amazon, and still keep your audiobooks.

So, if interop is so great, why isn’t it everywhere?

Well, it used to be. Interop is how Microsoft became the dominant operating system:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

[Image ID: Nobody gets the internet-both the nuts and bolts that make it hum and the laws that shaped it into the mess it is-quite like Cory, and no one’s better qualified to deliver us a user manual for fixing it. That’s The Internet Con: a rousing, imaginative, and accessible treatise for correcting our curdled online world. If you care about the internet, get ready to dedicate yourself to making interoperability a reality. -Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine]

It’s how Apple saved itself from Microsoft’s vicious campaign to destroy it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

Every tech giant used interop to grow, and then every tech giant promptly turned around and attacked interoperators. Every pirate wants to be an admiral. When Big Tech did it, that was progress; when you do it back to Big Tech, that’s piracy. The tech giants used their monopoly power to make interop without permission illegal, creating a kind of “felony contempt of business model” (h/t Jay Freeman).

The Internet Con describes how this came to pass, but, more importantly, it tells us how to fix it. It lays out how we can combine different kinds of interop requirements (like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Massachusetts’s Right to Repair law) with protections for reverse-engineering and other guerrilla tactics to create a system that is strong without being brittle, hard to cheat on and easy to enforce.

What’s more, this book explains how to get these policies: what existing legislative, regulatory and judicial powers can be invoked to make them a reality. Because we are living through the Great Enshittification, and crises erupt every ten seconds, and when those crises occur, the “good ideas lying around” can move from the fringes to the center in an eyeblink:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/12/only-a-crisis/#lets-gooooo

[Image ID: Thoughtfully written and patiently presented, The Internet Con explains how the promise of a free and open internet was lost to predatory business practices and the rush to commodify every aspect of our lives. An essential read for anyone that wants to understand how we lost control of our digital spaces and infrastructure to Silicon Valley’s tech giants, and how we can start fighting to get it back. -Tim Maughan, author of INFINITE DETAIL]

After all, we’ve known Big Tech was rotten for years, but we had no idea what to do about it. Every time a Big Tech colossus did something ghastly to millions or billions of people, we tried to fix the tech company. There’s no fixing the tech companies. They need to burn. The way to make users safe from Big Tech predators isn’t to make those predators behave better — it’s to evacuate those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/18/urban-wildlife-interface/#combustible-walled-gardens

I’ve been campaigning for human rights in the digital world for more than 20 years; I’ve been EFF’s European Director, representing the public interest at the EU, the UN, Westminster, Ottawa and DC. This is the subject I’ve devoted my life to, and I live my principles. I won’t let my books be sold with DRM, which means that Audible won’t carry my audiobooks. My agent tells me that this decision has cost me enough money to pay off my mortgage and put my kid through college. That’s a price I’m willing to pay if it means that my books aren’t enshittification bait.

But not selling on Audible has another cost, one that’s more important to me: a lot of readers prefer audiobooks and 9 out of 10 of those readers start and end their searches on Audible. When they don’t find an author there, they assume no audiobook exists, period. It got so bad I put up an audiobook on Amazon — me, reading an essay, explaining how Audible rips off writers and readers. It’s called “Why None of My Audiobooks Are For Sale on Audible”:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

[Image ID: Doctorow has been thinking longer and smarter than anyone else I know about how we create and exchange value in a digital age. -Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock]

To get my audiobooks into readers’ ears, I pre-sell them on Kickstarter. This has been wildly successful, both financially and as a means of getting other prominent authors to break up with Amazon and use crowdfunding to fill the gap. Writers like Brandon Sanderson are doing heroic work, smashing Amazon’s monopoly:

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/guest-editorial-cory-doctorow-is-a-bestselling-author-but-audible-wont-carry-his-audiobooks/

And to be frank, I love audiobooks, too. I swim every day as physio for a chronic pain condition, and I listen to 2–3 books/month on my underwater MP3 player, disappearing into an imaginary world as I scull back and forth in my public pool. I’m able to get those audiobooks on my MP3 player thanks to Libro.fm, a DRM-free store that supports indie booksellers all over the world:

https://blog.libro.fm/a-qa-with-mark-pearson-libro-fm-ceo-and-co-founder/

Producing my own audiobooks has been a dream. Working with Skyboat Media, I’ve gotten narrators like @wilwheaton, Amber Benson, @neil-gaiman and Stefan Rudnicki for my work:

https://craphound.com/shop/

[Image ID: “This book is the instruction manual Big Tech doesn’t want you to read. It deconstructs their crummy products, undemocratic business models, rigged legal regimes, and lies. Crack this book and help build something better. -Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When Its Gone”]

But for this title, I decided that I would read it myself. After all, I’ve been podcasting since 2006, reading my own work aloud every week or so, even as I traveled the world and gave thousands of speeches about the subject of this book. I was excited (and a little trepedatious) at the prospect, but how could I pass up a chance to work with director Gabrielle de Cuir, who has directed everyone from Anne Hathaway to LeVar Burton to Eric Idle?

Reader, I fucking nailed it. I went back to those daily recordings fully prepared to hate them, but they were good — even great (especially after my engineer John Taylor Williams mastered them). Listen for yourself!

https://archive.org/details/cory_doctorow_internet_con_chapter_01

I hope you’ll consider backing this Kickstarter. If you’ve ever read my free, open access, CC-licensed blog posts and novels, or listened to my podcasts, or come to one of my talks and wished there was a way to say thank you, this is it. These crowdfunders make my DRM-free publishing program viable, even as audiobooks grow more central to a writer’s income and even as a single company takes over nearly the entire audiobook market.

Backers can choose from the DRM-free audiobook, DRM-free ebook (EPUB and MOBI) and a hardcover — including a signed, personalized option, fulfilled through the great LA indie bookstore Book Soup:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

What’s more, these ebooks and audiobooks are unlike any you’ll get anywhere else because they are sold without any terms of service or license agreements. As has been the case since time immemorial, when you buy these books, they’re yours, and you are allowed to do anything with them that copyright law permits — give them away, lend them to friends, or simply read them with any technology you choose.

As with my previous Kickstarters, backers can get their audiobooks delivered with an app (from libro.fm) or as a folder of MP3s. That helps people who struggle with “sideloading,” a process that Apple and Google have made progressively harder, even as they force audiobook and ebook sellers to hand over a 30% app tax on every dollar they make:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-another-audiobook-that-amazon-wont-sell/posts/3788112

Enshittification is rotting every layer of the tech stack: mobile, payments, hosting, social, delivery, playback. Every tech company is pulling the rug out from under us, using the chokepoints they built between audiences and speakers, artists and fans, to pick all of our pockets.

The Internet Con isn’t just a lament for the internet we lost — it’s a plan to get it back. I hope you’ll get a copy and share it with the people you love, even as the tech platforms choke off your communities to pad their quarterly numbers.

Next weekend (Aug 4-6), I'll be in Austin for Armadillocon, a science fiction convention, where I'm the Guest of Honor:

https://armadillocon.org/d45/

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:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/31/seize-the-means-of-computation/#the-internet-con

[Image ID: My forthcoming book 'The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation' in various editions: Verso hardcover, audiobook displayed on a phone, and ebook displayed on an e-ink reader.]

#pluralistic #trustbusting #big tech #gift guide #kickstarter #the internet con #books #audiobooks #enshitiffication #disenshittification #crowdfunders #seize the means of computation #audible #amazon #verso

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taikeero-lecoredier · 19 days

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STOP KOSA CALL IN DAY THE 16TH APRIL 2024

• There will be a hearing on Wednesday (17th April) where KOSA, along with some other bad internet bills, like the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act could be pushed.

• We will be having a calling day on TUESDAY (16 th April) to make clear to Congress that there is still a ton of opposition to these bills. https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chair-rodgers-and-ranking-member-pallone-announce-legislative-hearing-on-data-privacy-proposals-1 •We need to contact Congress and urge people to use this site for this https://www.stopkosa.com/

• House Energy and Commerce is holding the hearing so they are the best offices to call this week !! https://energycommerce.house.gov/representatives (the link doesnt work properly so you'll need to head to the site and select "Members" to find them)

• You can use http://badinternetbills.com/ to contact your congresspeople !

• And https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative to find all of the phone numbers of your House Representative ! ��Don't forget to use faxzero.com to send up to 5 free faxes a day ! If you get a response talking about the changes made to the bills, please dont forget to point out it still makes it dangerous as explained here https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act Here are scripts you can use when contacting reps !

Please make sure to not mention how LGBT people will be affected by KOSA if your rep is republican, they don't care. Use freedom of speech instead like shown above !!! ^^^

Here is the Democrat version ! You may also tell your reps to support privacy legislations instead of the dangerous KOSA bill, as this will actually protect kids and anyone. Check my masterpost for more info And dont forget to join our discord server for the latest news and steps to take ! https://discord.com/invite/pwTSXZMxnH REBLOGS ENCOURAGED ! Making tweets, tiktoks, anything you want to spread awareness against KOSA is welcomed as well !!

#kosa #internet censorship #censorship #kids online safety act #tumblr #discord server #supreme court #us politics

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vympr · 2 years

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HELP A TRANS WOC IN INDIA TRANSITION

@dalitqueerinframes:

Hello, I am Shailesh (Chosen name will be Shalini after surgery) My pronouns are She/They. I am a trans person living in male body and I want to transition to fit into my right female body.

When I was young, I used to ask my father if I can become a girl, and foolishly he would tell me, by morning I will change into a girl. Time and again I have waited for that moment to come, but it never arrived.

The process is not an easy one. My body, my lifestyle, my very day is going to change, and for that, I need your help.

I wish to undergo the transition process (I hope you have watched Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui?)

For that I need to first go through HRT treatment. Which will allow my body to change, get into shape of a body as female.

I am required to visit psychiatrist and do my MMPI and RDR test done for my GID (Gender Identity Dsyphoria certificate)

Once that is done, I will require to visit an endocrinologist to run my blood test and check the level of testosterones present in my body. Accordingly, as my result will come out, I will be prescribed Estrogen meds, preferably I choose to go with Estrogen cream.

My journey doesn't end here, rather it starts here, In every three months I will be required to do my kidney and liver functionality test.

My therapy will go on as it goes now, except that, I will be required to visit my psychiatrist and endo every month, or once in a while for my improvement.

With this, I need to get LASER HAIR REMOVLE treatment. I have scars on my face, hence, the money will go there to go through laser treatment to get rids of those scars.

I know if may feels I am talking too much things here, but please understand that to become something that I wish to be, comes with cost, and I am not someone who can afford it. Hence, I also want to bring your attention to my teeth structure. I want to go undergo braces treatment too. And I hope you all know what it costs are?!

Last, but not the least, the main thing- MY SURGERY. Once I complete my HRT treatment for at least a year, I will have to go through GENDER AFFIRMING SURGERY. There are different type of VAGINO PLASTY SURGERY and from them I wish to go through SIGMOID COLON VAGINO PLASTY surgery. It is costly and a invasive surgery.

It costs around between 4 to 5 lacs. And the best doctors are in Delhi I am told.

I stay in Mumbai, to visit Delhi, to go through the surgery process, to stay there and wait there to recover will cost money.

I hope you understand my feelings and I hope you come forward and help me with what you can afford. I hope you contribute what is possible for you, I hope you share my fundraiser.

Please can you be there for your another trans fellow?

Thanks!

Link to donate- https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-shailesh-139/deeplink?deeplink_type=upi&utm_medium=whatsapp_status&utm_source=app

You do not have to be based in India to donate, and more than likely your donation will have a larger impact due to the conversion rate. Please donate if you can, and share the fundraiser if you cannot! @shareyourdollar @donations-mutualaid

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cherryg · 11 months

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For the past months there has been a storm of bad internet bills this year, now it’s not just the EARN It Act or KOSA but now a bill just like EarnIt called STOP CSAM.

There has also been overwhelming support on KOSA with some news articles claiming that groups who once opposed KOSA supports it now.

It also now has 36 cosponsors with a group called Design it For US saying they are going to lobby for it to get more cosponsors to sign the bill in the senate in July along with pushing a markup for the bill.

This group is dedicated to protect children online which is a good thing but they also have huge misguided support for KOSA.

There are also bad pro censorship groups like NCOSE and The heritage foundation supporting this bill as well

KOSA was supposed to protect kids online but this will actually give state attorneys power to dictate what could be recommended for kids.

This is a huge issue because this will give bigots and transphobic people power to use this against lgbt and trans content censoring them entirely.

Major proof from this is that a far right group called the heritage foundation recently came out with this tweet. Last year they created an article stating why the support KOSA (KidsOnlineSafetyAct) and it’s not pretty at all.

/Warning/ if this stuff triggers you feel free to skip this part until you see a green check mark

TW: Transphobia

✅

Some groups that support KOSA claims that the state attorney stuff in the legislation has been “watered down” and that all concerns are “addressed”

but it’s kinda hard to believe when you have groups that have these kinds of dangerous and close minded views behind statements on how they are gonna use this particular bill to censor content from groups of people they hate.

Also, support was so huge that Dove is also advocating for it with Lizzo https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/tell-lizzo/

Also if you want more information and facts on why KOSA may not be a good idea. You can find more info here https://fair.org/home/these-bills-will-make-children-less-safe-

Meanwhile a few senators are trying to push the EarnIt act along with its sister bill called STOP CSAM. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/stop-csam-act-would-put-security-and-free-speech-risk

While stopping csam is a great idea, these bills are bad for privacy and increase government surveillance. It’s also a section 230 carve out and will hurt creativity and free speech and expression. It’s also dangerous for everyone in a lot of ways. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/15/lgbtq-earn-it-act-risks-online/70247956007/

Please everyone, call your senators and tell them to oppose these bad internet bills!

( I’m sorry guys if this is badly made I’m currently rushing, I will be updating this post more and adding in more information)

#lgbtq #important #stop internet censorship #stop kosa #boost #earn it act #gay rights #lgbtq community #internet #trans rights #trans #transgender #lgbtqia #lgbt #net neutrality #stop censorship

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