Today's links

The Cory Doctorow Humble Bundle: Name your price, get ebooks, back EFF!
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Podcasts, events and more.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

White type on a dark grey background reading 'Cory Doctorow novel collection book bundle.' Also: the Tor Books logo.

The Cory Doctorow Humble Bundle (permalink)

It's been 21 years and 29 days since Tor Books published my first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. In the years since, Tor has published every one of my novels, sending me around the USA and Canada to talk about them. Now, they've teamed up with Humble Bundle to sell 18 of my ebooks on a name-your-price basis, with part of the proceeds going to benefit EFF:

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cory-doctorow-novel-collection-tor-books-books

I've been associated with EFF even longer than I've been published by Tor! My first novel came out while I was working EFF's first-ever booth at CES. I split my time between the booth and my motel room, where I paid $0.25/call to dial up to Earthlink's local number and manage the launch-day publicity. Over the years, I've benefited immensely from Tor's editorial and publicity departments, working with brilliant publishing people like Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Patty Garcia, Dot Lin, Laura Etzkorn, Elena Stokes, Sarah Reidy, Lucille Rettino, and of course, Tor founder Tom Doherty.

But I like to think that it was a two-way street. Tor and I have come a long way together on ebooks: most visibly, they allowed me to publish several novels under Creative Commons licenses (my first book was the first ever CC book, coming out just weeks after the licenses themselves launched). As my editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden said at the time, "Ebooks have the worst hours-in-meeting-to-dollars-in-revenue ratio of anything in my publishing career. Why not?"

https://craphound.com/down/download/

Just as important – but less visible – was Tor's willingness to let me insist that all my books be published without DRM, meaning that anything you buy on say, Amazon, can be moved to any reader program if you decide to start getting your ebooks elsewhere. This worked so well that in 2012, Tor became the first major publisher in the world to ban DRM on all its ebooks, flying me, John Scalzi and Charlie Stross to New York City to announce it this at a big, splashy event at Book Expo America:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130512022634/https://tor.com/blogs/2012/06/tor-books-announces-e-book-store-doctorow-scalzi-a-stross-talk-drm-free

Tor's unique status as the sole major DRM-free publisher in the world was well timed! That same year, I curated the very first Humble Ebook Bundle, which was very top-heavy with Tor titles, and raised more than $1,000,000 for the writers, publishers and charities associated with it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20121017215636/http://www.humblebundle.com/

That opened the floodgates to a series of Humble Bundles, tempting other major publishers to dabble with DRM-free, including Simon and Schuster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-I5QyAfglU

And Harpercollins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHMLfeCrCrE

Now, 12 years after that inaugural Humble Ebook Bundle, I find myself honored by being the subject of a bundle of my own (it helps that I've written a hell of a lot of books in the intervening years). Included in the bundle are (nearly) all of my Tor novels and novellas: The Lost Cause; "The Canadian Miracle" (a Lost Cause story); Red Team Blues; Radicalized; Walkaway; "Party Discipline" (a Walkaway story); Pirate Cinema; Rapture of the Nerds (with Charlie Stross); For The Win; Makers; Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town; Eastern Standard Tribe, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother, Homeland, Attack Surface, and "Lawful Interception" (a Little Brother story).

(The sole exclusion is The Bezzle, which came out two weeks ago and is already a USA Today national bestseller!)

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

Also included in the bundle is Poesy the Monster Slayer, my 2020 picture book for the littlies:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627/poesythemonsterslayer

All these books are delivered as DRM-free epub files. The Bundle runs for the next three weeks, and the minimum buy-in is $18 – that's just $1/book (full retail value is $187). Of course, you can name a higher price, and, as with all Humble Bundles, you can adjust the final split to share out the money between me, EFF, and the Humble folks.

Hey look at this (permalink)

Price fixing by algorithm is still price fixing https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2024/03/price-fixing-algorithm-still-price-fixing
Do Not Reply https://donotreply.cards/ (h/t Waxy)
Diary of an Abomination https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/diary-of-an-abomination (h/t Kottke)

A Wayback Machine banner.

This day in history (permalink)

#20yrsago Database copyright: a stupid idea whose time hasn’t come https://www.wired.com/2004/03/hands-off-that-fact-is-mine/

#20yrsago How piracy repeatedly saved the entertainment industry https://www.wired.com/2004/03/lessig-2/

#20yrsago Eisner ousted from Disney’s Board https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/business/defied-in-vote-disney-leader-loses-one-post.html

#20yrsago Worm-writers insulting each other in source-code comments https://web.archive.org/web/20040619024113/http://www.vnunet.com/news/1153225

#20yrsago Lego Pantone values https://memex.craphound.com/2004/03/04/lego-pantone-values/

#20yrsago Mojo Nixon retiring https://web.archive.org/web/20040402054153/http://www.mojonixon.com/

#20yrsago Jay-Z construction set http://www.jayzconstructionset.com

#20yrsago Anthropomorphic Mars Rover LiveJournal https://opportunitygrrl.livejournal.com

#15yrsago Child in wet bathing suit made to stand in -5F weather because school policy forbade her from waiting in teacher’s car https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/teen-teachers-made-me-stand-outside-in-wet-bathing-suit-barefoot/

#15yrsago Christian salt, a wingnut alternative to Kosher salt https://web.archive.org/web/20090302152904/http://www.examiner.com/a-1873794~Christian_salt_seller_hopes_to_shake_up_market.html

#15yrsago Cult of Done Manifesto: a name for my disease https://medium.com/@bre/the-cult-of-done-manifesto-724ca1c2ff13

#15yrsago EFF launches “Surveillance Self Defense” — comprehensive guide to blocking govt snooping https://ssd.eff.org

#15yrsago In Praise of the Sales Force: the stuff a publisher does for an author that the Internet can’t replace https://www.locusmag.com/Features/2009/03/cory-doctorow-in-praise-of-sales-force.html

#15yrsago Manchester man arrested for alleged sewer-grate photography, held as a terrorist https://pinacnews.com/index.php/2009/03/10/uk-police-arrest-man-for-photography-even-though-he-didnt-take-photos/

#10yrsago Full NHS hospital records uploaded to Google servers, “infinitely worse” story to come https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/03/nhs-england-patient-data-google-servers

#10yrsago Cold Equations and Moral Hazard: science fiction considered harmful to the future https://locusmag.com/2014/03/cory-doctorow-cold-equations-and-moral-hazard/

#10yrsago Data-compression with playing cards https://www.timwarriner.com/carddata/index.html

#10yrsago David Cameron’s porn-filter advisor arrested for possession of images of sexual abuse of children https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/senior-tory-adviser-patrick-rock-arrested-on-child-pornography-allegations-9166837.html

#10yrsago Free download of danah boyd’s must-read book “It’s Complicated” https://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2014/03/03/its-complicated-open-access.html

#10yrsago Podcast: Cold Equations and Moral Hazard https://ia800202.us.archive.org/17/items/CoryDoctorowPodcast267ColdEquationsAndMoralHazard/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_267_Cold_Equations_and_Moral_Hazard.mp3

#10yrsago Guy who “fixed” women’s computers spied through their webcams https://www.wired.co.uk/article/cyber-voyeur

#10yrsago Barrett Brown legal motion: linking is protected by the First Amendment https://web.archive.org/web/20140307111151/http://freebarrettbrown.org/right-to-link/

#5yrsago Fox News was always partisan, but now it is rudderless and “anti-democratic” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house

#5yrsago How the patent office’s lax standards gave Elizabeth Holmes the BS patents she needed to defraud investors and patients https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/theranos-how-a-broken-patent-system-sustained-its-decade-long-deception/

#5yrsago Open dataset of 1.78b links from the public web, 2016-2019 https://blog.gdeltproject.org/who-links-to-whom-the-30m-edge-gkg-outlink-domain-graph-april-2016-to-jan-2019/

#5yrsago Automated reception kiosks are a security dumpster fire https://securityintelligence.com/stranger-danger-x-force-red-finds-19-vulnerabilities-in-visitor-management-systems/

#5yrsago Alias: a smart-speaker “parasite” that blocks your speaker’s sensors until you activate it https://web.archive.org/web/20190321085518/https://bjoernkarmann.dk/project_alias

#5yrsago Financialization is wearing out its welcome https://www.ft.com/content/a9f13afc-3c3d-11e9-b856-5404d3811663

#5yrsago German data privacy commissioner says Article 13 inevitably leads to filters, which inevitably lead to internet “oligopoly” https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/03/german-data-privacy-commissioner-says-article-13-inevitably-leads-filters-which

#5yrsago Tim Maughan’s Infinite Detail: a debut sf novel about counterculture, resistance, and the post-internet apocalypse https://memex.craphound.com/2019/03/04/tim-maughans-infinite-detail-a-debut-sf-novel-about-counterculture-resistance-and-the-post-internet-apocalypse/

#5yrsago Terra Nullius: Grifters, settler colonialism and “intellectual property” https://locusmag.com/2019/03/cory-doctorow-terra-nullius/

#5yrsago Leaked memo suggests that Google has not really canceled its censored, spying Chinese search tool https://theintercept.com/2019/03/04/google-ongoing-project-dragonfly/

#5yrsago Record label censors copyright lawyers’ site by falsely claiming it infringes copyright https://torrentfreak.com/record-label-targets-copyright-experts-with-bogus-takedown-request/

#5yrsago Google says it won’t remove Saudi government app that lets men track and monitor their wives and domestic employees https://www.businessinsider.com/absher-google-refuses-to-remove-saudi-govt-app-that-tracks-women-2019-3

#5yrsago The FAIR Act will end forced arbitration for employment, consumer, antitrust and civil rights disputes https://thinkprogress.org/lawmakers-declare-war-on-the-biggest-civil-rights-problem-youve-probably-never-heard-of-eaf3b5459034/

#1yrago Solving the Moderator's Trilemma with Federation https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/04/pick-all-three/#agonism

Upcoming appearances (permalink)

A photo of me onstage, giving a speech, holding a mic.

Tucson Festival of Books, Mar 9/10
https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/?id=676
San Francisco Public Library, Mar 13
Enshittification: How the Internet Went Bad and How to Get it Back (virtual), Mar 26
https://libcal.library.ubc.ca/event/3781006
Wondercon Anaheim, Mar 29-31
https://www.comic-con.org/wc/
The Bezzle at Anderson's Books (Chicago), Apr 17
https://www.andersonsbookshop.com/event/cory-doctorow-1
Torino Biennale Tecnologia (Apr 19-21)
https://www.turismotorino.org/en/experiences/events/biennale-tecnologia
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Winnipeg), May 2
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cory-doctorow-tickets-798820071337?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tartu Prima Vista Literary Festival (May 5-11)
https://tartu2024.ee/en/kirjandusfestival/
Media Ecology Association keynote (Amherst, NY), Jun 6-9
https://media-ecology.org/convention
American Association of Law Libraries keynote (Chicago), Jul 21
https://www.aallnet.org/conference/agenda/keynote-speaker/

A screenshot of me at my desk, doing a livecast.

Recent appearances (permalink)

Is Social Media Becoming a Bit Shit? (The Briefing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvPlpMd1KEw
Radioactive (KCRL)
https://krcl.org/blog/grist-investigates-doctorow-seed/
The enshittification of music (Music Ally)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh20fD3XXbg

A grid of my books with Will Stahle covers..

Latest books (permalink)

The Bezzle: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/).
"The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/)
"The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).
"Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/.
"Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com
"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html
"How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html)
"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html
"Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/.

A cardboard book box with the Macmillan logo.

Upcoming books (permalink)

Picks and Shovels: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books, February 2025
Unauthorized Bread: a graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources:

Currently writing:

A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING
Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS JAN 2025
The Bezzle, a Martin Hench noir thriller novel about the prison-tech industry. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2024
Vigilant, Little Brother short story about remote invigilation. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM
Spill, a Little Brother short story about pipeline protests. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM

Latest podcast: The Majority of Censorship is Self-Censorship https://craphound.com/news/2024/02/25/the-majority-of-censorship-is-self-censorship/

This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.