Post #2121198
2026-02-20 08:16 UTC
Last year I pointed out that Apple has effectively broken this permissionless structure and hollowed out the internet's standards bodies:
https://infrequently.org/2025/09/apples-crimes-against-the-internet-community/
This situation persists, and it matters because what Apple (and to a lesser extent, Google's Android team) are doing here is to enact an *enclosure agenda*.
Enclosure works by lacing open and standardised technologies with proprietary poison as the price of access, backed by legal agreements forced on everyone who wants to play.
Replies (1)
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@slightlyoff@toot.cafe 2026-02-20 08:16
In the beginning of a platform's life, this is an empty-ish threat. Platforms that aren't monopolies don't have the power to do more than rattle sabers regarding the the embedded patent, copyright, and breach of contract consequences. But what happens when the situation flips? When market power begets legal and lobbying might? When firms become comfortable corrupting governments to protect profits? That's the situation in our pockets. Every smartphone now perpetuates enclosure.