BONUS: How the Internet Got Worse with Cory Doctorow

Summary of BONUS: How the Internet Got Worse with Cory Doctorow

by Bloomberg

42m•January 21, 2026
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Overview of BONUS: How the Internet Got Worse with Cory Doctorow

This Bloomberg bonus episode features author and digital-rights activist Cory Doctorow in conversation with host Barry Ritholtz. Doctorow outlines his thesis of “shittification” (platform decay), explains why modern digital platforms degrade over time, gives concrete examples (Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Uber, printers, Audible), and proposes legal and collective remedies—especially stronger interoperability, the right to reverse-engineer, updated privacy law, and sectoral bargaining for creative workers.

Guest background

  • Cory Doctorow: science-fiction author, longtime Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) activist, former Boing Boing editor, and tech-policy commentator.
  • Notable earlier work on digital rights includes the Bernstein case (helped establish code as protected speech) and campaigning around DRM, broadcast flag, privacy and surveillance.

Key topics discussed

  • Definition of “shittification” (platform decay) and its three phases:
    1. Build a great product and lock users in.
    2. Degrade the user experience while monetizing business customers (ads, payola).
    3. Lock business customers and extract maximum rent while leaving only the minimal features needed for lock-in.
  • How legal and structural changes removed “discipline” on platforms: reduced interoperability, anti-circumvention/DMCA enforcement, weakened labor power, and lax regulatory or antitrust enforcement.
  • European vs. U.S. approaches: Europe moving from asking platforms to behave better toward regulating platform power itself (interoperability mandates, “Eurostack” ambitions); U.S. influence via trade/industrial policy historically favored U.S. platform interests.
  • Concrete examples of decay and gatekeeping:
    • Bernstein case: established code as speech and enabled modern encryption.
    • Apple reversed Office file formats to reduce switching costs historically; today reverse engineering is criminalized in many cases.
    • OG App (reverse-engineered Instagram chronological feed without ads) rose in app charts then was removed by Apple/Google at Meta’s request.
    • Amazon: dramatic growth of ad/pay-to-play revenues; search results biased toward ad-paying or sponsored listings; “junk fees” and high take rates estimated around 45–60%.
    • Facebook: reduced investment in ad-quality policing and allowed low-quality/engagement-maximizing content to proliferate; advertisers cut spending without immediate sales impact.
    • Uber: heavy VC subsidies led to predatory pricing, Prop 22 locked in a platform-favorable labor regime; “algorithmic wage discrimination” and manipulation of driver/passenger pricing and time signals.
    • Printer ink and firmware updates: vendors using technical measures and pushed updates to block generic consumables; HP example of an update that disabled third-party ink.
    • Audible/DRM: audiobooks locked to provider-approved apps creates switching costs; reverse-engineering or migration tools are legally risky under anti-circumvention rules.
  • Generative AI: threat to creative labor; copyright protects human-created works only (US Copyright Office stance). Doctorow warns a new “boss-friendly” copyright would be harmful; instead advocates for sectoral bargaining/unions to protect creatives and negotiate AI-training terms.

Main takeaways

  • Platform degradation is systemic, predictable, and driven by incentives created when competition, regulation, and user control are curtailed.
  • Legal tools (DMCA anti-circumvention, restrictive terms of service, proprietary app-store choke points) empower platforms to block migration, reverse engineering, and third-party competition.
  • Gatekeepers (Apple, Google, platform owners) often coordinate—directly or indirectly—to protect each other’s control over markets and distribution.
  • Rent extraction (ads, listing fees, fulfillment/“junk fees”) increasingly funds platform profits, not improved product quality or consumer value.
  • Remedies involve technical, regulatory, and collective-labor approaches, not just consumer workaround tactics.

Notable quotes / pithy lines

  • “Code is speech” — recalling the Bernstein ruling and its importance for encryption and expression.
  • “Companies don’t just become too big to jail — they become too big to care.” (On insulation from consequences.)
  • Platforms become “shitty” when the policy environment rewards the worst incentives (Doctorow calls this an “enchitogenic policy environment”).
  • “There is honor among thieves” — app stores and platforms will defend each other’s market control.

Concrete examples / case studies (brief)

  • Bernstein v. NSA — established source code as First Amendment-protected speech; enabled public access to robust encryption.
  • OG App — teen-built Instagram alt-client that removed ads and algorithmic recommendations; removed from app stores at Meta’s request within a day.
  • HP printer firmware update — allegedly disabled generic ink after a timed update; an example of vendor-enforced consumable lock-in.
  • Amazon ad business growth — ad revenue became a dominant profit center, driving search/result bias and higher prices; “junk fees” on merchants estimated at ~45–60%.
  • Uber & Prop 22 — massive VC subsidy to capture market, followed by regulatory maneuvers to cement a driver classification favorable to platforms, and algorithmic wage nudging.

Policy & solution highlights

  • Restore and enforce interoperability (data portability, cross-platform messaging/standards).
  • Protect the right to reverse-engineer and modify devices (narrow or repeal anti-circumvention interpretations that criminalize lawful modification).
  • Update privacy laws to limit abusive surveillance business models (rather than blanket bans on specific firms); regulate digital ad markets and pay-to-play mechanisms.
  • Strengthen antitrust enforcement focused on structural power, not just consumer prices.
  • Favor collective remedies for workers and creators: sectoral bargaining / stronger unions to negotiate AI training use and preserve livelihoods.
  • Encourage Europe-style rules that limit platform power (interoperability, data portability) and reduce lock-in.

Actionable steps for listeners

  • Use ad blockers and privacy tools (Doctorow notes ad-blocking is the largest consumer boycott in history).
  • Support policies and organizations that advocate interoperability and privacy law reform (e.g., EFF).
  • For creators: consider collective bargaining and organizing to secure rights around AI training and platform contracts.
  • For civic advocates: push for enforcement of anti-trust and anti-lock-in laws, and oppose overly broad anti-circumvention prohibitions that deny device owners control.

Final note

Doctorow frames platform decay as predictable and policy-driven: when competition and user control are undermined, incentives favor rent extraction and degradation. The remedies are structural (interoperability, anti-lock-in laws), regulatory (privacy and antitrust), and collective (worker/creator bargaining), rather than purely technological band-aids.

(Guest: Cory Doctorow; Host: Barry Ritholtz; episode packaged by Bloomberg Audio Studios.)