this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2023
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Technology

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Hi, we're a tech startup run by libertarian Silicon Valley tech bros.

We're not a newspaper, we're a content portal.
We're not a taxi service, we're a ride sharing app.
We're not a pay TV service, we're a streaming platform.
We're not a department store, we're an e-commerce marketplace.
We're not a financial services firm, we're crypto.
We're not a space agency, we're a group of visionaries who are totally going to Mars next year.
We're not a copywriting and graphic design agency, we're a large language model generative AI platform.

Oh sure, we compete against those established businesses. We basically provide the same goods and services.

But we're totally not those things. At least from a legal and PR standpoint.

And that means all the laws and regulations that have built up over the decades around those industries don't apply to us.

Things like consumer protections, privacy protections, minimum wage laws, local content requirements, safety regulations, environmental protections... They totally don't apply to us.

Even copyright laws — as long as we're talking about everyone else's intellectual property.

We're going to move fast and break things — and then externalise the costs of the things we break.

We've also raised several billion in VC funding, and we'll sell our products below cost — even give them away for free for a time — until we run our competition out of the market.

Once we have a near monopoly, we'll enshitify the hell out of our service and jack up prices.

You won't believe what you agreed to in our terms of service agreement.

We may also be secretly hoarding your personal information. We know who you are, we know where you work, we know where you live. But you can trust us.

By the time the regulators and the general public catch on to what we're doing, we will have well and truly moved on to our next grift.

By the way, don't forget to check out our latest innovation. It's the Uber of toothpaste!

#startup #business #tech #technology @technology

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[–] [email protected] 143 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wow. This is a Mastodon account posting to Lemmy and we are getting cross platform engagement and it's all working pretty seamlessly. This is the first time I've seen this kind of thing on Lemmy. The Mastodon users don't get to see the upvotes though, right? The @ thing when they reply is kind of annoying but it seems like a fairly easy fix to hide those when browsing from Lemmy.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

so, sO, SO COOL

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

It's pretty awesome, but generally Kbin does it even better in my experience. It's designed to be able to interact with both. Looking forward to the API!

[–] [email protected] 125 points 1 year ago

Wow. You just somehow accurately summed up the modern day result of late stage capitalism in one post. Nicely done

[–] [email protected] 80 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It took longer than I care to admit to realize this was satire.

Which says something about the world and life.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 year ago

Yooo Mastodon post on Lemmy let's goooo

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (11 children)

@ajsadauskas @technology The one thing I don't sympathise with in that list is the taxi services — at least here in #Ottawa, they were even more exploitative than Uber or Lyft, with a small number of plate holders acting as feudal lords for the drivers, and extracting rent from their vassals even on a bad shift with few fares.

The city could have fixed that by issuing more plates, but the plate-owner lobby was too powerful.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

Exact same system in Paris, with the same issues.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's not all black or white, those startups brought some good things like breaking highly profitable monopolies and creating well designed apps that provide a much better service which ended up being picked up by the former monopolies, overall the quality of service often improved and we sometimes have more choice now, like picking the less human exploiting alternative that still has a usable app.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ah yes, the “local taxi lobby.” Uber helped show a lot of us what a fucking joke that is, not just in Ottawa.

Innovation, choice, quality and freedom are the choice spices for capitalism soup. These shit-cook-legislators kept sprinkling in taint like protectionism, cronyism, extortion and corruption thinking nobody would notice. Well guess what? Now it’s just taint soup.

Why does it matter who’s serving you taint soup? The problem is there’s no other soup and they keep telling you it’s fine.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Michael was driving a car from a company that shows every private residence in the country. But it's also a company that won't let us show the car that takes those pictures. In fairness to them, it is their property. If you want to know what the company is, all you have to do is 'something' it."

  • Arrested Development Narrator
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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

Here's the source of that term. https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

Excellent article.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks, @ajsadauskas, for summarising extractivist platform capitalism strategies. The patterns are so clear that mainstreet is getting aware these days. At least partially. Time to rebuild the economy and the internet with collective & public interest first.

@technology

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

“It’s all on the blockchain now, so it’s not even us who’s doing it.

What are you gonna do, arrest me and these 7,000 graphics cards?”

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Well, I'm not sure about arresting a bunch of graphics cards, but under American civil forfeiture laws, they could be sued, sort of. "United States vs. Approximately 7000 Computer Graphics Cards" has a certain ring to it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You just gotta put very tiny handcuffs on the fan blades.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (5 children)

@ajsadauskas @technology One factual point I'm not clear on--how exactly are Lyft/Uber getting away with operating unlicensed taxi services? Are they just ignoring the law but getting away with it because city governments are tech-enthralled? (But could, theoretically, bust every uber driver for operating a taxi without a license)? Or do they actually have some legal basis for not needing medallions?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@ajsadauskas @technology

We are not just a startup. We are a mix of dreams, passions, and a ton of passionate slogans.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

When we aren't drinking craft beer...

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@ajsadauskas @technology
And we'll change our TOS and user agreement to our advantage whenever we feel like it but won't tell you what changed or why or how it'll effect you. But legally we told you so f*ck off if you have a problem with that.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Had us in the first half not gonna lie

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@ajsadauskas @technology don’t forget the fact that a good amount never turn a profit

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

Turning a profit and making a lot of money for yourself are 2 different things.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

@ajsadauskas @technology

This could be one of the more important social media posts of all time. And not one in 100,000 people will have enough information to appreciate a single word of it.

Source: @ajsadauskas
https://mastodon.social/@[email protected]/110762848575512188

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

honestly i’ve started to realize that startups are the modern day robin hood. they take and burn money from VCs and turn them into very low cost services. then they try to turn a profit and everyone runs away to the next new startup that is there to “disrupt the competition” but in reality is just the same company in a younger phase.

fucking lol

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Except for the ones that actually succeed. They become the opposite of Robin hood when they succeed.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

@ajsadauskas @technology
> By the time the regulators and the general public catch on to what we're doing, we will have well and truly moved on to our next grift

Fortunately, sometimes the grifters get justice served

https://decrypt.co/148288/lbry-token-plummets-file-sharing-crypto-project-shuts-down

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Wish I could upvote this 1000 times.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

I hate how accurate this is.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

You left out, "once we get the IPO, we're fucking right off with our billions."

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

These services are interfaces for interacting with data that YOU create

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

@ajsadauskas @technology These guys are not "libertarians", at all. They are, in fact, the antithesis of libertarian. They are authoritarians who believe in liberty only for themselves.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Seems like a fair description of many who would call themselves "libertarian", even if not the going definition.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Investors: shut up and take my money!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Sounds great! Please take all of my savings, my kids' college fund, and the money from mortgaging my house. I'm sure you'll put it to good use and I'll get any sort of return at all.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

@ajsadauskas @technology

Torment Nexus (tm) now with an extensive library of add-on modules.

Installing "Uber of toothpaste"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago
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