[Plura-list] Big Car wants to pump the brakes on Right to Repair; How to Fix the Internet

Fri Nov 13 10:34:37 EST 2020

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I'm giving a talk at 1:30PM Pacific tomorrow - "Early Onset
Oppenheimers" - for Aaron Swartz Day:

https://www.aaronswartzday.org/cory-doctorow/

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Today's links

* Big Car wants to pump the brakes on Right to Repair: Automotive makers
v 76% of Massachusetts.

* How to Fix the Internet: EFF has a podcast!

* This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019

* Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing
projects, current reading

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😈 Big Car wants to pump the brakes on Right to Repair

Obviously, there was a *lot* of stuff on the ballot on Nov 3.

In Massachusetts, there was a chance to vote on Right to Repair.

Again.

Back in 2012, 75% of Bay Staters backed a ballot initiative to force
auto manufacturers to allow independent mechanics to access diagnostic
data carried on cars' wired networks (but not their wireless nets).

Naturally, car makers moved all the useful data to wireless.

8 years later, the state's voters got  another ballot initiative,
Question 1, closing the wireless loophole. Big Car threw everything at
scaring people out of voting for it, including telling them that
enabling independent repair would MURDER THEM.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms

But despite all this, they got fucking *creamed* at the ballot box.
*Seventy six percent of bay staters voted in favor of right to repair.*

I mean, of course they did. "I wish it was illegal for me to choose my
mechanic," said no one, ever.

But the fuckery's only just begun. In Massachusetts political circles,
there are persistent, credible rumors that the car manufacturers are
going to ask the state legislature to delay the new law's start date...

By *years*.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/asleep-wheel-why-didnt-carmakers-prepare-massachusetts-right-repair-law

They say that implementing the new data-formats is will take years to
get right, and they're just not ready.

The technical term for this is: bullshit.

First, we're talking about an ISO-standard data format with extensive
libraries and documentation.

The car makers are already shipping wireless updates to their cars.
Tesla is sending over-the-air suspension firmware. Ford has an app that
lets you change your engine performance from any IP address. Of course
they can do this.

But let's say they're right and this will require heroic effort - so
what? This was a *completely foreseeable outcome*. They subverted a law
that was passed by plebescite by 75% of the voters. They knew this was
coming.

If they're not prepared it's because they decided not to prepare
themselves. They didn't just fall asleep at the wheel - they took a
sleeping pill. If they need to pay a shit-ton of overtime to get this
done, then good. The last thing we should do is reward fuckery with
forbearance.

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😈 How to Fix the Internet

At long last, EFF has a podcast! "How to Fix the Internet" has been in
the works for a long time, and now it's finally a reality, with two
spectacular episodes dropping more-or-less simultaneously this week.

https://www.eff.org/how-to-fix-the-internet-podcast

The format's simple: EFF executive director Cindy Cohn and EFF director
of strategy Danny O'Brien sit down each week for an in-depth interview
with an expert on a subject of great importance to technology users
(e.g. everyone).

They dive SUPER deep into the nerdy minutiae, but hold your hand while
they do so that you can appreciate the nuance and technicalities.

The experts they bring on are literally my top choices for who I'd go to
for explanations of these issues - and they're often the people I
learned about the issues from myself.

But there are lots of explainer shows, and this goes beyond explanations.

EFF is an activist org, after all. They're not just about naming our
problems - they're about solving them.

So each of these episodes isn't just about an issue - it's about a
framework for resolving it.

Concrete, actionable things that legislatures, regulators, businesses
(and you!) can do to make the internet safe for human thriving. It's a
refreshing tonic - the opposite of a counsel of despair.

The debut is "The Secret Court Approving Secret Surveillance," an
interview with Julian Sanchez about the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court, a star chamber where judges secretly issue
far-ranging wiretap orders that affect *all* US communications.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/secret-court-approving-secret-surveillance

Ep 2 is "Why Does My Internet Suck?" with Gigi Sohn. It lays out the
clusterfuck of state laws, regulatory malfeasance and Congressional
inaction that made America a broadband also-ran, where access is
expensive and slow, and half country's offline.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/podcast-episode-why-does-my-internet-suck

For years, I've been getting pretty deep into the weeds on these
subjects, but neither are my speciality; listening to Gigi and Julian
explain them was revelatory, and significantly improved my understanding
of them.

EFF's gone all-out with these podcasts. Each episode page has a full
transcript, extensive notes, and links for deeper dives into each facet
of their issues. It's a serialized masterclass in the most important and
worst understood technical issues in the world.

Here's the RSS feed for the podcast:

https://efforg.libsyn.com/rss

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😈 This day in history

#15yrsago Sony’s rootkit infringes on software copyrights
https://web.archive.org/web/20061108150242/https://dewinter.com/modules.php?name=News&file;=article&sid;=215

#15yrsago Sony’s malware uninstaller leaves your computer vulnerable
https://www.hack.fi/~muzzy/sony-drm/

#10yrsago Tim Wu on the new monopolists: a “last chapter” for The Master
Switch
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704635704575604993311538482

#5yrsago Facebook won’t remove photo of children tricked into posing for
neo-fascist group
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-34797757

#5yrsago Fordite: a rare mineral only found in old Detroit auto-painting
facilities
https://miningeology.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-most-amazing-rocks.html

#5yrsago Hey, kids, let’s play Corporate Monopoly!
https://web.archive.org/web/20151116144002/https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/infographics/corporatemonopoly/

#5yrsago Hospitals are patient zero for the Internet of Things infosec
epidemic https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-hospital-hack/

#5yrsago Cop who unplugged his cam before killing a 19-year-old girl is
rehired
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/cop-fired-for-having-lapel-cam-turned-off-a-lot-reinstated-to-force/

#5yrsago Startup uses ultrasound chirps to covertly link and track all
your devices
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/11/beware-of-ads-that-use-inaudible-sound-to-link-your-phone-tv-tablet-and-pc/

#1yrago EFF and ACLU triumph as federal judge rules that warrantless,
suspicionless device searches at the border are illegal
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/federal-court-rules-suspicionless-searches-travelers-phones-and-laptops

#1yrago Before you ask your Chinese factory for a discount, make sure
you won’t be kidnapped and/or have your product cloned
https://www.chinalawblog.com/2019/11/the-right-way-to-reduce-your-china-product-costs.html

#1yrago Transcription service rev.com cuts “professional
transcriptionists'” effective hourly wage from $6.35 to $4.50
https://gizmodo.com/transcription-platform-rev-slashes-minimum-pay-for-work-1839784941

#1yrago A woman’s stalker compromised her car’s app, giving him the
ability to track and immobilize it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/11/06/womans-stalker-used-an-app-that-allowed-him-stop-start-track-her-car/

#1yrago alt.interoperability.adversarial
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/11/altinteroperabilityadversarial

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😈 Colophon

Today's top sources:

Currently writing: My next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel
about truth and reconciliation. Yesterday's progress: 574 words (83702
total).

Currently reading: The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson

Latest podcast: Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town (part 22)
https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/11/08/someone-comes-to-town-someone-leaves-town-part-22/

Upcoming appearances:

* Early Stage Oppenheimers, Aaron Swartz Day, Nov 14,
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aaron-swartz-day-and-international-hackathon-2020-tickets-128384147441

* Shaping the Digital Future Summit/Kaspersky, Nov 17,
https://transparency.kaspersky.com/home

* Misinformation and Disinformation in Science Fiction and Fantasy/LITA,
Nov 17, details TBD

* Keynote, Data Natives, Nov 18, https://datanatives.io/tickets/

* Keynote, Cologne Futures, Nov 20, details TBD

* Keynote, Cybersummit 2020, Nov 26 https://www.cybera.ca/cyber-summit-2020/

* Beaverbrook Lecture: How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism, Nov 30,
https://www.mcgill.ca/maxbellschool/channels/event/2020-beaverbrook-annual-lecture-part-ii-cory-doctorow-325538

* Teach-In Against Surveillance, Dec 1,
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/teach-in-against-surveillance-tickets-128926228821

* Keynote, NISO Plus, Feb 22-25,
https://niso.plus/cory-doctorow-to-keynote-at-niso-plus-2021/

Recent appearances:

* Allen School Distinguished Lecture "Early Onset Oppenheimers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep78A-jtcrE

* Author Stories Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxSPZn8EGTE

* The Gould Standard:
https://www.glenngould.ca/thegouldstandard/#cory-doctorow

Latest book:

* "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone
technothriller for adults. The *Washington Post* called it "a political
cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution
and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies
* "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet
analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a
solution.
https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59

* "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new
introduction by Edward Snowden:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies
here:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html

* "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime,
gender, and kicking ass. Order here:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed
copy here:
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1562/_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer.html.

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When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla -Joey "Accordion Guy"
DeVilla

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