Today’s links Apple to EU: “Go fuck yourself”: The dictionary definition of malicious compliance. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading Apple to EU: “Go fuck yourself” (permalink) There’s a strain of anti-anti-monopolist that insists that they’re not pro-monopoly – they’re just realists who understand that global gigacorporations are too big to fail, too big to jail, and that governments can’t hope to rein them in. Trying to regulate a tech giant, they say, is like trying to regulate the weather. This ploy is cousins with Jay Rosen’s idea of “savvying,” defined as: “dismissing valid questions with the insider’s, ‘and this surprises you?'” https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/344825874362810369?lang=en In both cases, an apologist for corruption masquerades as a pragmatist who understands the ways of the world, unlike you, a pathetic dreamer who foolishly hopes for a better world. In both cases, the apologist provides cover for corruption, painting it as an inevitability, not a choice. “Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.” The reason this foolish nonsense flies is that we are living in an age of rampant corruption and utter impunity. Companies really do get away with both literal and figurative murder. Governments really do ignore horrible crimes by the rich and powerful, and fumble what rare, few enforcement efforts they assay. Take the GDPR, Europe’s landmark privacy law. The GDPR establishes strict limitations of data-collection and processing, and provides for brutal penalties for…Pluralistic: Apple to EU: "Go fuck yourself" (06 Feb 2024)