Google Becomes Evil

Counter to its positive mythology, Google manipulates search results to suit its own corporate purposes, quashing free access to information on the Web.

By Tom Valovic | October 16, 2019 | Ethics, Journalism, Media, Privacy, Society | Algorithms, Alternative Voices, AlterNet, Carey Gillam, Censorship, Control, Disinformation, Filtering, Fraud, Google, Harrassment, Information, Mercola.com, Monopoly, Monsanto, Search Engine, The Guardian, YMYL

Podcast #30: Gail Dines on Porn Culture

Activist, author, and sociologist Gail Dines discusses the impact of pornography—particularly in its virulent and violent Internet form—on culture.

By Mo Lotman | April 11, 2019 | Culture, Economics, Identity, Podcasts, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Abuse, Addiction, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Boys, Eastern Europe, Erectile Dysfunction, Feminism, Fun, Gender, Girls, Global Culture, Greed, Hookup Culture, Image, India, Inequality, Internet, Intimacy, Love, Men, Monopoly, Pedophilia, Porn Addiction, Prisoners, Profit, Rape, relationships, Self-Esteem, Self-Expression, Self-Harm, Sex, Sex Addiction, Sexual Identity, Sexuality, Shame, Teens, Violence, Women

The AT&T-Time Warner Suit: Is Antitrust Back?

After years of seeming government indifference to ever-larger monopolistic firms, the DOJ has filed suit against the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner. Does this signal a much-needed resurgence of antitrust action? Or is it a one-off?

By Warren Christopher Freiberg | December 27, 2017 | Economics, Government, Law, Media, Politics | 21st Century Fox, Antitrust, AT&T, Cable, Comcast, Competition, Department of Justice, Disney, Donald Trump, Economy, Horozontal Integration, Internet Service Providers, ISPs, Market Share, Monopoly, NBC, Television, Time Warner, Trustbusting, Universal, Verizon, Vertical Integration

America Should Send Amazon Packing

Amazon has destroyed businesses, mistreated employees, lowered wages, manipulated markets, and virtually censored books. Now they want a giant handout.

By Mo Lotman | October 11, 2017 | Community, Economics, Employment, Ethics, Government, Law, Publishing | Amazon, Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Web Services, Boston, Cloud Computing, Delivery, Detroit, E-Commerce, ILSR, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Internet, Jeff Bezos, Labor, Local Economies, Local Government, Main Streets, Market Share, Monopoly, Pittsburgh, Retail, Sales Tax, Seattle, Shopping, Unfair Business Practices, Whole Foods

On “Going Back”

“We can’t go back” is a favorite rejoinder to technoskeptics. We just don’t think it’s a compelling argument for much of anything.

By Mo Lotman | May 10, 2017 | Automation, Economics, Philosophy, Privacy, Society, Well-Being | Brexit, El Sisi, Income Inequality, Kevin Kelly, Lionel Shriver, Monopoly, Permaculture, Progress, Slavery, Smoking, Stasi, Stephen Hawking, Techno-utopians, Technological Determinism, Wisdom, WWII

When it Comes to Working People, Amazon Isn’t Innovative at All

Despite what they’d like you to believe, Amazon’s practices have resulted in net job losses, according to a study done by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. And the jobs they have created aren’t particularly good, either.

By Olivia LaVecchia | February 15, 2017 | Automation, Economics, Employment | Amazon, Independent Business, Independent Contractors, Jeff Bezos, Job Security, Monopoly, Online Shopping, Retail, Warehouses, Working Conditions

Podcast #8: Tim Wu On Attention and Communications Networks

Tim Wu is a renowned scholar on our communications networks, having coined the phrase “net neutrality” and written extensively on the subject both inside and outside of government and academia, including the White House and Columbia University. His latest book, The Attention Merchants, is a history of advertising, and it’s not pretty. He spoke with us about our declining private spheres, the current state of the Internet, and the effects of what he calls The Cycle, as new communications technologies inevitably move from open to closed.

By Mo Lotman | January 11, 2017 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Journalism, Media, Podcasts, Politics, Privacy, Publishing, Relationships, Society | Advertising, Amish, Attention, Bell Telephone, Buzzfeed, Capitalism, Closed Systems, Convenience, David Sarnoff, Democracy, Friendship, Individuality, Innovation, Internet, Medium, Microfame, Monopoly, NBC, Net Neutrality, Netflix, Oji-Cree, Open Systems, Paid Content, RCA, Richard Posner, The Cycle, Theodore Vail, Utopia

Podcast #7: Bob McChesney on Capitalism and Technology

Are we in capitalism’s end days? University of Illinois Professor Robert McChesney thinks we might be, or at least we might need to be, if technology continues to displace workers and concentrate wealth. He is a long-time observer of the interplay between media, policy, economics, and society; he sat down with The Technoskeptic to discuss the ramifications of technological automation on our economic system and our democracy. Professor McChesney has written more than 20 books including Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy. His latest, co-written with John Nichols, is People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy.