Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

On my own time, I have to read a ~50 page document produced for the #EuropeanCommission in order to effectively participate in a two hour meeting where #FDroid is pitted against #BigTech on the #DigitalMarketsAct and its requirements around installing and allowing other #AppStore options.
Its all NDA'ed so I can't ask for help.
This game is really rigged for the megacorps. Wish me luck! Here's to fighting the good fight!

More fun with #DigitalMarketsAct meetings! This time I'm in some meetings organized by the European Commission, run by a super expensive, multi-national consultancy. We are in with well paid representatives of #BigTech, some academics, and a couple public interest techies like me. Volunteers like me are again driving the key points that will make or break the #DMA. I applied to #FordFoundation to fund our work, but was rejected. How can we in the #EU get more people paid to represent users?

Nothing like a massive flowing river in the middle of a city to show us who is boss:

Enforcing #FreeSoftware via contracts rather than licenses is an interesting idea:
https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Features/A-Post-Open-World

European Competition Network's #DMA conference summarized how our digital infrastructure is working, e.g.

"The narrative of #security excuse, which is so often used by big tech players, is a self-serving story created by the incumbents who have the ability to solve incredibly complicated technical problems. Security solutions are not intractable and do not prevent compliance. Once security is taken care of, consumers obviously like choice"

https://www.acm.nl/en/publications/ecn-digital-markets-act-conference-2024

#gatekeepers #BigTech

The CIA has a long track record, documented from their own archives and elsewhere, of breaking just laws about torture, kidnapping, murder, due process, etc. On top of that, they have built a system to ensure they rarely have to face the consequences. 4/4

#DarkNetDiaries 113 makes a very dangerous conclusion that sometimes governments need to break the law. In many countries, the law is the law, and there are no exceptions. I'm fortunate to live in one: Austria. The US Constitution does not say that the government can break the law for security reasons. The US executive branch decided that, and the checks and balances are failing. The right standard comes from MLK Jr: people should break unjust law, but accept the consequences. 3/

The #CIA has a well documented, decades-long history of using coercion and even murder, from Abu Ghraib to the Korean War. If you want extensive detail, see the National Security Archive. Or a great book on the topic is Killing Hope, by William Blum. The CIA even hosts a free PDF of the book, if you trust downloads from them ;-) https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/13/130AEF1531746AAD6AC03EF59F91E1A1_Killing_Hope_Blum_William.pdf 2/

The #CIA is doing more PR these days, like putting up agents for interviews on popular podcasts where the interviewer won't contradict their #spin or even outright lies, like "the CIA does not spy on Americans". I heard a clear example of this on #DarkNetDiaries episode 116 Mad Dog, where the agent said the CIA doesn't typically use coercion. The key spin word is "typically". Most agents are paper pushers, so they aren't torturing, but the CIA does regularly and frequently torture people 1/

Looks like #Israel will pass a key point in its war on #Hamas: its own response will kill more of their own people than the original attack. This already happened long ago for #Hamas, more were killed in this war than all since 1948. The #US lost more of its own people in the wars of #Iraq and #Afghanistan than in the Sept 11th attacks. These facts clearly demonstrate who gains from these kinds of wars. The leaders who drive them do so to stay in power, not to serve their people interests.

"Die fehlende Zustimmung Österreichs zum EU-Renaturierungsgesetz blockiert derzeit den Beschluss dieses Gesetzes im EU-Umweltministerrat.

Die Unterzeichnenden dieser Petition ersuchen jedes einzelne Bundesland, dem Gesetz zuzustimmen."

https://www.renaturierungsgesetz.at/

#EU #NatureRestorationLaw #Österreich #Austria #Natur #nature #petition

Now that #Apple is removing ever more apps from their Chinese app stores, it looks like Chinese mobile buyers are leaving Apple in droves. Most recently it was #Signal, #Telegram, #WhatsApp, and more. True to their #gatekeeper status, Apple locks users in with no other supported option for installing apps. For Android devices, there are lots of app stores available.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/23/apple-iphone-sales-drop-19percent-in-china-as-huawei-demand-soars-counterpoint.html