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Today's links Zohran Mamdani's world-class photocopier-kicker: Lina Khan has plans for New York City. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Pirate code in Sony rootkit; Tim Wu on "New Monopolists"; Supersonic chirps in ads; Fordite; Sony's rootkit uninstaller leaves computers insecure; Anne Frank Foundation's copyfraud. 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. Zohran Mamdani's world-class photocopier-kicker (permalink) The most exciting thing about Biden's antitrust enforcers was how good they were at their jobs. They were dead-on chapter-and-verse on every authority and statute available to the administrative branch, and they set about in earnest figuring out how to use those powers to help the American people: https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby It was a remarkable contrast from the default Democratic Party line, which is to insist that being elected gives you no power at all, because of filibusters or Republicans or pollsters or decorum or billionaire donors or Mercury in retrograde. It's also a remarkable contrast from Republicans, whose approach to politics is "fuck you, we said so, and our billionaires have showered the Supreme Court in enough money to make that stick." But under Biden, the trustbusters that had been chosen and fought for by the Warren-Sanders wing of the party proved themselves to be both a) incredibly principled; and b) incredibly skilled. They memorized the rulebook(s) and then figured out what they needed to do to mobilize those rules to makes Americans' lives better by shielding them from swindlers, predators and billionaires (often the same person, obvs). They epitomized the joke about the photocopier repair tech, who comes into the office, delivers a swift kick to the xerox machine, and hands you a bill for $75. "$75 for kicking the photocopier?" "No, it's $5 to kick the photocopier, and $70 for knowing where to kick it." https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/administrative-competence/#i-know-stuff One of Biden's best photocopier kickers was and is Lina Khan. She embodies the incredible potential of a fully operational battle-station, which is to say that she embodies the awesome power of a skilled technocrat who is also deeply ethical and genuinely interested in helping the public. Technocrats get a bad name, because they tend to be empty suits like Pete Buttigieg, who either didn't know what powers he had, or lacked the courage (or desire) to wield them: https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge But another way of saying "technocrat" is "someone who is very good at their job." And that's Khan. You'll never guess what Khan is doing now: she's co-chairing Zohran Mamdani's transition team! https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/12/yes-new-york-will-soon-be-under-new-management-but-zohran-mamdani-is-just-the-start Khan's role in the Mamdani administration will be familiar to those of us who cheered her on at the Federal Trade Commission: she is metabolizing the rules that define the actions that mayors are allowed to take, figuring out how to use those actions to improve the lives of working New Yorkers, and making a plan to combine the former with the latter to make a real difference: https://www.semafor.com/article/11/12/2025/lina-khans-populist-plan-for-new-york-cheaper-hot-dogs-and-other-things Front and center is the New York City Consumer Protection Law of 1969, which contains a broad prohibition on "unconscionable" commercial practices: https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2404&context=mjlr There are many statute books that contain a law like this. For example, Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act bans "unfair and deceptive" practices, and this rule is so useful that it was transposed, almost verbatim, into the statute that defines the Department of Transportation's powers: https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/16/for-petes-sake/#unfair-and-deceptive Now, this isn't carte blanche for enforcers to simply point at anything they don't like and declare it to be "unconscionable" or "unfair" or "deceptive" and shut it down. To use these powers, enforcers must first "develop a record" by getting feedback from the public about the problem. The normal way to do this is through "notice and comment," where you collect comments from anyone who wants to weigh in on the issue. Practically speaking, though, "anyone" turns out to be "lawyers and lobbyists working for industry," who are the only people who pay attention to this kind of thing and know how to navigate it. When Khan was running the FTC, she launched plenty of notice and comment efforts, but she went much further, doing "listening tours" in which she and her officials and staff went to the people, traveling the country convening well-attended public meetings where everyday people got to weigh in on these issues. This is an incredibly powerful approach, because enforcers can only act to address the issues in the record, and if you only hear from lawyers and lobbyists, you can only act to address their concerns. Remember when Mamdani was on the campaign trail and he went out and talked to street vendors about why halal cart food had gotten so expensive? It turns out that halal cart vendors each have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to economic parasites who've cornered the market on food cart licenses, which they rent out at exorbitant markups to vendors, who pass those costs on to New Yorkers every lunchtime: https://documentedny.com/2025/11/04/halal-food-trucks-back-mamdani/ That's the kind of thing Khan did when she was running the FTC, identifying serious problems, then seeking out the everyday people best suited to describing how the underlying scams hurt, and how they harmed everyday people: https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/24/gouging-the-all-seeing-eye/#i-spy Khan's already picked out some "unconscionable" practices that the mayor has "standalone authority" to address: everything from hospitals that price gouge on over-the-counter pain meds to sports stadiums that gouge fans on hot dogs and beer. She's taking aim at "algorithmic pricing" (when companies use commercial surveillance data to determine whether you're desperate and raise prices to take advantage of that fact) and junk fees (where the price you pay goes way up at checkout time to pay for a bunch of vague "services" that you can't opt out of). This is already making all the right people lose their minds, with screaming headlines about how this will "deliver a socialist agenda": https://web.archive.org/web/20251114230206/https://nypost.com/2025/11/14/us-news/zohran-mamdanis-transition-leader-lina-khan-seeks-more-power-for-him/ In a long-form interview with Jon Stewart, Khan goes deep on her regulatory philosophy and the way she's going to bring the same fire she brought to the most effective FTC since the Carter administration to Mamdani's historic administration of New York City, a municipality with a population and economy that's larger than many US states and foreign nations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRJWM_3OW2Y One important aspect of Khan's work that she is always at pains to stress is deterrence. When an enforcer acts against a company that is scamming and preying upon the public, their private finances and internal communications become a matter of public record. Employees and executives have to be painstakingly instructed and monitored so that they don't say anything that will prejudice their cases. All this happens irrespective of the eventual outcome of the case. Remember: we're at the tail end of a 40-year experiment in official tolerance and encouragement for monopolies and corporate predation. Those lost generations saw the construction of a massive edifice of bad case-law and judicial intuition. Smashing that wall won't happen overnight. There will be a lot of losses. But when the process is (part of) the punishment, the mere existence of someone like Khan in a position of power can terrify companies into being on their best behavior. As MLK put it, "The law can't make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and that's pretty important." The oligarchs that acquired their wealth and power by ripping off New Yorkers will never truly believe that working people deserve a fair shake – but if they're sufficiently afraid of the likes of Khan, they'll damned well act like they do. (Image: lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, modified) Hey look at this (permalink) A dream denied: My 54-year quest to publish a short story in F&SF https://www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/2025/11/12/a-dream-denied/ The algorithm failed music https://www.theverge.com/column/815744/music-recommendation-algorithms Why the filibuster? https://coreyrobin.com/2025/11/11/why-the-filibuster/ Britain’s Railway Privatization Was an Abject Failure https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/53917/britains-railway-privatization-was-an-abject-failure The lawsuit is over! https://linkletter.org/update-33-the-lawsuit-is-over/ Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Sony begins to recall some infected CDs https://web.archive.org/web/20051127235441/http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2005-11-14-sony-cds_x.htm #20yrsago Sony’s rootkit uninstaller is really dangerous https://blog.citp.princeton.edu/2005/11/14/dont-use-sonys-web-based-xcp-uninstaller/ #20yrsago Table made from ancient, giant hard-drive platter https://web.archive.org/web/20050929185244/https://grandideastudio.com/portfolio/index.php?id=1&prod=20 #20yrsago EFF to Sony: you broke it, you oughta fix it https://web.archive.org/web/20051126084944/http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/?f=open-letter-2005-11-14.html #20yrsago Sony anti-customer technology roundup and time-line https://memex.craphound.com/2005/11/14/sony-anti-customer-technology-roundup-and-time-line/ #20yrsago Visa’s “free” laptop costs at least $60 more than retail in fees https://web.archive.org/web/20051125053825/http://debt-consolidation.strategy-blogs.com/2005/10/free-laptop-from-visa.html #20yrsago Sony’s rootkit infringes on software copyrights https://web.archive.org/web/20061108150242/https://dewinter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215 #20yrsago Gizmodo flamed by crazy inventor; turns out he’s a crook https://web.archive.org/web/20051126101341/https://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/iload-inventor-vents-is-out-on-bail-136934.php #20yrsago Fox counsels viewers to share videos of shows https://memex.craphound.com/2005/11/13/fox-counsels-viewers-to-share-videos-of-shows/ #20yrsago Sony’s malware uninstaller leaves your computer vulnerable https://www.hack.fi/~muzzy/sony-drm/ #15yrsago Tim Wu on the new monopolists: a “last chapter” for The Master Switch https://web.archive.org/web/20151214010555/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704635704575604993311538482 #15yrsago Man at San Diego airport opts out of porno scanner and grope, told he’ll be fined $10K unless he submits to fondling https://johnnyedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/these-events-took-place-roughly-between.html #10yrsago 100 useful tips from a bygone era https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?q=gallaher++how+to+do+it#/?scroll=18 #10yrsago Copyfraud: Anne Frank Foundation claims father was “co-author,” extends copyright by decades https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/books/anne-frank-has-a-co-as-diary-gains-co-author-in-legal-move.html #10yrsago 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/ #10yrsago 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/ #10yrsago Hospitals are patient zero for the Internet of Things infosec epidemic https://web.archive.org/web/20151113050443/https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-hospital-hack/ #10yrsago Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s FBI files https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/nov/13/ol-dirty-bastard-fbi-files/ #10yrsago I-Spy Surveillance Books: a child’s first Snoopers Charter https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2015/11/i-spy-surveillance-books.html #10yrsago China routinely tortures human rights lawyers https://www.businessinsider.com/amnesty-international-report-on-torture-2015-11 #10yrsago Fordite: a rare mineral only found in old Detroit auto-painting facilities https://miningeology.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-most-amazing-rocks.html #10yrsago Facebook won’t remove photo of children tricked into posing for neo-fascist group https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-34797757 #5yrsago Big Car wants to pump the brakes on Right to Repair https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/13/said-no-one-ever/#r2r #1yrago America's richest Medicare fraudsters are untouchable https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/13/last-gasp/#i-cant-breathe Upcoming appearances (permalink) London: Enshittification with Sarah Wynn-Williams and Chris Morris, Nov 15 https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/cory-doctorow-with-sarah-wynn-williams London: Downstream IRL with Zack Polanski, Ash Sarkar, and Aaron Bastani (Novara Media), Nov 17 https://dice.fm/partner/tickets/event/oen5rr-downstream-irl-aaron-bastani-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-17th-nov-earth-london-tickets London: Enshittification with Carole Cadwalladr (Frontline Club), Nov 18 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-conversation-enshittification-tickets-1785553983029 Virtual: Enshittification at the Internet Archive, Nov 21 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-enshittification-tickets-1839608451399 Virtual: Enshittification with Vass Bednar (Vancouver Public Library), Nov 21 https://www.crowdcast.io/@bclibraries-present Toronto: Jailbreaking Canada (OCAD U), Nov 27 https://www.ocadu.ca/events-and-exhibitions/jailbreaking-canada San Diego: Enshittification at the Mission Hills Branch Library, Dec 1 https://libraryfoundationsd.org/events/doctorow Seattle: Neuroscience, AI and Society (University of Washington), Dec 4 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neuroscience-ai-and-society-cory-doctorow-tickets-1735371255139 Madison, CT: Enshittification at RJ Julia, Dec 8 https://rjjulia.com/event/2025-12-08/cory-doctorow-enshittification Hamburg: Chaos Communications Congress, Dec 27-30 https://events.ccc.de/congress/2025/infos/index.html Recent appearances (permalink) How to dis-Enshittify the world (Blood In the Machine) https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/how-to-dis-enshittify-the-world-with Reimagining Digital Public Infrastructure (Attention: Govern Or Be Governed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8JuXDfDtBY Enshittification and How To Fight It (ILSR) https://www.whoshallrule.com/p/enshittification-and-how-to-fight Big Tech’s “Enshittification” & Bill McKibben on Solar Hope for the Planet https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/11/cory-doctorow-on-big-techs-enshittification-bill-mckibben-on-solar-hope-for-the-planet/ Enshittification and the Rot Economy with Ed Zitron (Clarion West) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz71pIWbFyc Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2026 "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2026 "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. FIRST DRAFT COMPLETE AND SUBMITTED. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. 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"It's like modern-day slavery."

The American British author on pet peeves, the perils of fantasy dinner parties, and revisiting The Short History of Everything two decades later