When the tech platforms promised a future of "connection," they were lying. They said their "walled gardens" would keep us safe, but those were prison walls.
The platforms locked us into their systems and made us easy pickings, ripe for extraction. Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms are hard to leave by design. They hold hostage the people we love, the communities that matter to us, the audiences and customers we rely on. The impossibility of staying connected to these people after you delete your account has nothing to do with technological limitations: it's a business strategy in service to commodifying your personal life and relationships.
We can - we must - dismantle the tech platforms. In The Internet Con, Cory Doctorow explains how to seize the means of computation, by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users to leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission.
Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.
When the tech platforms promised a future of "connection," they were lying. They said their "walled gardens" would keep us safe, but those were prison walls.
The platforms locked us into their systems and made us easy pickings, ripe for extraction. Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms are hard to leave by design. They hold hostage the people we love, the communities that matter to us, the audiences and customers we rely on. The impossibility of staying connected to these people after you delete your account has nothing to do with technological limitations: it's a business strategy in service to commodifying your personal life and relationships.
We can - we must - dismantle the tech platforms. In The Internet Con, Cory Doctorow explains how to seize the means of computation, by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users to leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission.
Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.
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Find The Internet Con Cory Doctorow in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find The Internet Con Cory Doctorow in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
6 books in catalog
Speculative fiction and digital rights advocacy intersect in a prolific body of work that examines surveillance, internet policy, copyright, and post-scarcity economics. Cory Doctorow established himself as a prominent voice in modern science fiction and tech journalism through novels that address how technology shapes human freedom and social systems, including his best-selling young adult novel Little Brother.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 17, 1971, Doctorow attended alternative schools and worked at Bakka Bookstore before dropping out of high school at age seventeen. That same year, he sold his first story, '2,000 Year Check-up,' to the Canadian speculative fiction magazine On Spec. After briefly living in Mexico and attending four universities in two years, he attended the Clarion Writers' Workshop in 1992. His first professional sale, 'Craphound,' appeared in Science Fiction Age in 1998 and was nominated for the Aurora and Sturgeon Awards.
Beyond his fiction writing, Doctorow has built an extensive career as an activist, blogger, and journalist. He served as the European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, co-founded the Open Rights Group in the UK, and spent years as a co-editor of the popular blog Boing Boing. Having lived in Toronto, London, and other cities, he continues to publish technology critique and fiction while advocating for Creative Commons licensing and open access standards.
Doctorow's writing frequently focuses on the political and legal tensions inherent in digital technology, with recurring themes such as digital rights management, file sharing, copyright liberalization, anti-monopoly economics, and open-source computation. His speculative worlds often feature technologist protagonists who use technical knowledge, civil disobedience, and collaborative problem-solving to counter corporate overreach and government surveillance.
Whether writing solarpunk speculative fiction about climate hope or techno-thrillers about financial mechanisms, his narrative approach balances detailed technical realism with accessible explanations of economic and social concepts. He frequently releases his literary works under Creative Commons licenses, reflecting his personal commitment to accessible information and user autonomy.
6 books in catalog
Speculative fiction and digital rights advocacy intersect in a prolific body of work that examines surveillance, internet policy, copyright, and post-scarcity economics. Cory Doctorow established himself as a prominent voice in modern science fiction and tech journalism through novels that address how technology shapes human freedom and social systems, including his best-selling young adult novel Little Brother.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 17, 1971, Doctorow attended alternative schools and worked at Bakka Bookstore before dropping out of high school at age seventeen. That same year, he sold his first story, '2,000 Year Check-up,' to the Canadian speculative fiction magazine On Spec. After briefly living in Mexico and attending four universities in two years, he attended the Clarion Writers' Workshop in 1992. His first professional sale, 'Craphound,' appeared in Science Fiction Age in 1998 and was nominated for the Aurora and Sturgeon Awards.
Beyond his fiction writing, Doctorow has built an extensive career as an activist, blogger, and journalist. He served as the European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, co-founded the Open Rights Group in the UK, and spent years as a co-editor of the popular blog Boing Boing. Having lived in Toronto, London, and other cities, he continues to publish technology critique and fiction while advocating for Creative Commons licensing and open access standards.
Doctorow's writing frequently focuses on the political and legal tensions inherent in digital technology, with recurring themes such as digital rights management, file sharing, copyright liberalization, anti-monopoly economics, and open-source computation. His speculative worlds often feature technologist protagonists who use technical knowledge, civil disobedience, and collaborative problem-solving to counter corporate overreach and government surveillance.
Whether writing solarpunk speculative fiction about climate hope or techno-thrillers about financial mechanisms, his narrative approach balances detailed technical realism with accessible explanations of economic and social concepts. He frequently releases his literary works under Creative Commons licenses, reflecting his personal commitment to accessible information and user autonomy.
