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aral's profile
Aral Balkan
Aral Balkan
Aral Balkan
@aral

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Aral Balkan

@aral

I mainly post on my blog at https://ar.al  (RSS: https://ar.al/index.xml ) and interact on my Mastodon https://mastodon.ar.al . Please follow me there.

Terra firma
ar.al
Joined December 2006

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    Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

    Aral Balkan Retweeted Achim J. Müllers

    Google is a surveillance capitalist. It is a factory farm that extracts from and exploits people. Why do you want to create a “Google of Europe?” Why do you want Europe to capitulate to Silicon Valley’s digital imperialism and become its taxpayer-paid R&D department? (1/N)https://twitter.com/AchimMuellers/status/1000989525391413248 …

    Aral Balkan added,

    Achim J. Müllers @AchimMuellers
    France, Germany push for EU funding for technology start-ups https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-innovation/france-germany-push-for-eu-funding-for-technology-start-ups-idUKKCN1IS0RC …
    11:47 PM - 27 May 2018
    • 81 Retweets
    • 122 Likes
    • Aleksmit #ReconnectJulian🌞 Renée Stephen Hasti Esther serious political scientist Mirela Riveni Devin Foster James Dunne Selda Ekiz
    7 replies 81 retweets 122 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

        Europe must stop investing in startups; especially with taxpayer money. Startups are a Silicon Valley brand. They’re disposable businesses designed to either fail fast or grow exponentially (like cancer) and exit (be sold) to other surveillance capitalists or to the public (IPO)

        2 replies 30 retweets 58 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

        Startups are the long-tail of surveillance capitalism that the monster eats to sustain itself. If unsuccessful, the EU taxpayer foots the bill. If successful, they are snatched up by the Googles and Facebooks. EU becomes Silicon Valley’s taxpayer-supported free R&D department.

        2 replies 27 retweets 52 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

        We can do so much better in the EU if we have a bit of imagination and the courage to look beyond the toxic Silicon Valley model of technology. Instead of startups, we should be funding ethical technology and sustainable businesses: let’s call them stayups.

        5 replies 41 retweets 127 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

        We should take what works from the Silicon Valley model and leave the toxic funding and business model. What works? Funding small organisations that compete with each other and work iteratively. What doesn’t? An incentive model based on surveillance-based growth and exits.

        3 replies 14 retweets 32 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

        So let’s fund businesses that, if successful, cannot be sold. We must move beyond VC/equity capital and remove exits from the equation. Let’s only fund business models that are ethical (see https://ind.ie/ethical-design ).

        4 replies 10 retweets 32 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 27

        Let’s stipulate that getting commons funding means the products of the business must also be shared back with the commons. That’s the only way to avoid a tragedy of the commons and build a healthy public sphere. It would also encourage not just competition but also sharing.

        2 replies 12 retweets 34 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 28

        Silicon Valkey’s model of technology (surveillance capitalism) is not the only way to fund and build technology. It’s just one very toxic way to do so. Let’s do better in the EU. We can, should, and must fund ethical tech from the commons for the common good. (End)

        3 replies 15 retweets 46 likes
        Show this thread
      9. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 30

        Aral Balkan Retweeted Aral Balkan

        To Californians/Americans chiming in on this to regurgitate the gospel of Silicon Valley: just stop. It’s not that we don’t understand it; we do only too well & strongly disagree. This isn’t about you. It’s about us, in the EU, trying to avoid your imperialism. Stay in your lane.https://twitter.com/aral/status/1000991960839217152 …

        Aral Balkan added,

        Aral Balkan @aral
        Google is a surveillance capitalist. It is a factory farm that extracts from and exploits people. Why do you want to create a “Google of Europe?” Why do you want Europe to capitulate to Silicon Valley’s digital imperialism and become its taxpayer-paid R&D department? (1/N) https://twitter.com/AchimMuellers/status/1000989525391413248 …
        Show this thread
        1 reply 4 retweets 16 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 30

        The responses to this thread are very elucidating. Almost exclusively (with a couple of lovely exceptions to the latter; you know who you are and I love you): * Folks in Europe: enthusiastic support * Folks in California/US: patronising/sarcastic dismissal/defeatism

        1 reply 2 retweets 16 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Aral Balkan‏ @aral May 30

        If anywhere we have a chance to veer away from surveillance capitalism to build ethical technological infrastructure that protects personhood and nurtures a healthy commons, it’s going to be in the EU. That’s a very big if and cannot happen without a fundamental shift in policy.

        2 replies 3 retweets 14 likes
        Show this thread
      5. End of conversation
      1. Cyril Brulebois‏ @CyrilBrulebois May 29
        Replying to @aral

        TIL: “Every start-up has the right not to obey a given law to develop a business model” is where France is headed. This is so fucked up!

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. New conversation
      2. Joscha Bach‏ @Plinz May 29
        Replying to @aral

        Europe already has its own surveillance capitalism, but it does not produce decent user facing software (and probably shitty backends, too). Make no mistake, this is not going to be about surveillance but about competition.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      3. (((webhat)))‏ @webhat May 30
        Replying to @Plinz @aral

        It's amusing that you think you are dumping on EU development, and forget that many US/Silicon Valley companies have big pockets of development in the EU, including remote workers. The only competition in Europe and the world is with the deep pockets of US investors.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      4. Joscha Bach‏ @Plinz May 30
        Replying to @webhat @aral

        I meet so many Europeans in US tech companies. Europe may have people to build innovative tech. But the ecosystem to grow technologically disruptive economic entities is very sparse in the EU.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      5. End of conversation
      1. Ronald Vermeij‏ @RonaldVermeij May 30
        Replying to @aral

        "Why do you want to create a “Google of Europe?” http://www.paulmcguire.org/articles/articles_the_planned_destruction_of_the_us.html …

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Thomas Burkhart‏ @ThomasBurkhartB May 29
        Replying to @aral @Grady_Booch

        Write this to Angela Merkel!

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Gokulakrishna‏ @gKrishnaKS May 28
        Replying to @aral

        hi Aral. Is it possible for your indie project to apply for funding through this? If yes, would you apply?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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