Today’s links

Billionaire-proofing the internet: Scolding people for choosing popular services is no way to build a popular movement.

Picks and Shovels Chapter One (Part 5): Now we’re just haggling over the price.

Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.

This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2020, 2023

Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.

Recent appearances: Where I’ve been.

Latest books: You keep readin’ em, I’ll keep writin’ ’em.

Upcoming books: Like I said, I’ll keep writin’ ’em.

Colophon: All the rest.

Billionaire-proofing the internet (permalink)
During the Napster wars, the record labels seriously pissed off millions of internet users when they sued over 19,000 music fans, mostly kids, but also grannies, old people, and dead people.
It’s hard to overstate how badly the labels behaved. Like, there was the Swarthmore student who was the maintainer of a free/open source search engine that indexed files available in public sharepoints on the LAN. The labels sued him for millions and millions (the statutory

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