August 22, 2017

The Problem may Be More Thorny Than We Realize

Pixy has thoughts on the troubling situation with Google. His piece is thoughtful and should to be read in full. Note that the post significantly predates the recent spate of censorial conduct in the aftermath of the Charlottesville debacle. The controversy then was not NAZIs, but an employee who infinitesimally strayed from approved ideology.  

Pixy's premise is that Google, by becoming social engineers as opposed to...engineers, has potentially broken its brand and could implode. He suggests that Microsoft or Amazon may well move into Google's turf.

However, Microsoft and Amazon are also companies with very PC outlooks, and seem to be steeped in the same Bay Area cultural pathologies that have caused Google to toss the "Don't" from their motto. 

With that in mind, I spoke to  secure, undisclosed sources in the tech industry recently about what would be required to start up a competitor to the Google subsidiary Youtube. I figured that the actual set up ought to be pretty straightforward, though obtaining secure servers would entail some significant outlay and there would, of course be legal issues (DMCA and such). I was genuinely surprised to be quoted prices in the billions. This was not due to physical plant and salaries, but the "DMCA and such" part of the equation. 

If the hurdles to entry have been raised that much since 2005, then Youtube may be immune to competition since entering into competition is unlikely to result in a profit anytime soon...or ever. Even if, some other established silicon valley firm were to go toe to toe with Google (unlikely) the notion that such an entity would be much of an improvement with regards to idealogical diversity seems dubious.

Having the government come in and regulate the matter seems pretty damned scary as well. 

The sheer depth of the issue hit me like a ton of bricks Friday when I read this somewhat obnoxious article that eventually discusses Cloudflare's decision to join in the new fad of denying people service based on their politics. This is Cloudflare...who protect their clients from DOS attacks and I should note, provides hosting services to ISIS chatrooms, but when it came to standing up to the Silicon Valley social justice mob, they goosestepped along with the rest of the techweasels. 

It's not just Versailles on the Bay either, the worldwide gestalt on these issues is moving away from free speech as a concept and has been for some time and it is the young and upcoming generations who seem to be the most hostile to it.

I do, therefore, wonder if anything like corrective competition can come about with regards to streaming video, let alone the other information access services that act as gatekeepers for our telescreens. 


This is the place in the post where I must make the seemingly obvious point that I loathe, despise, and in no way support the views or goals of the people shaped colostomy bags at the Daily Stormer. 

 
You see, one of the many odious goals of National Socialists is, upon gaining power, the regulating of speech and silencing of all dissent. For some reason our self appointed digital clerisy does not oft remark upon this convergence of values.

 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:44 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 542 words, total size 4 kb.

1 I know someone who used Cloudflare for hosting that had their site shut down recently; allegedly due to some tangential connection to the Charlottesville group.  The so-called nazis, not Antifa.  However, it currently looks like it was the site manager that shut it down; not Cloudflare themselves, which has resulted in a lawsuit.  Because of course, the website manager doesn't actually "own" the website.  Which means he effectively "stole" from the website owner by shutting it down and refunding subscribers.  Cloudflare, I'm guessing, probably has a legal standing to shut down a website they host, unfortunately.  (Not to force refunds to subscribers of said website, though)

Posted by: Ben at Tue Aug 22 11:49:25 2017 (S4UJw)

Hide Comments | Add Comment




What colour is a green orange?




35kb generated in CPU 0.0221, elapsed 0.3173 seconds.
71 queries taking 0.3065 seconds, 364 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.