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Guest speaker: Cory Doctorow

PROGRAM NOTES:

In this 2024 Palenque Norte lecture, Cory Doctorow discusses "inshitification," the process by which initially good online services degrade over time.

He argues this occurs because four constraints—competition, regulation, interoperability, and worker power has weakened, allowing companies to prioritize profit maximization over user experience. Doctorow proposes solutions including strengthening antitrust enforcement, passing new privacy laws, promoting right-to-repair legislation, and empowering tech workers through unionization.

The ultimate goal is to create a "new good internet" that is resistant to inshitification and serves users' needs.

Cory Doctorow's Website

Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Repair Coalition