this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024
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Showerthoughts
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The EFF is great. Perhaps going a little bit off-topic, the EFF creates plug-ins, but I wonder why the EFF doesn't create a privacy-based ecosystem similar to Proton?
A VPN provider or a system like Proton with encrypted mail, VPN, etc. is entirely based on trust and yet we trust our privacy almost entirely to for-profit corporations, which are inherently untrustworthy over the long haul. It would be cool if a non-profit with a long history of defending privacy, like the EFF, developed such a system. Mozilla seems to be moving in that direction, but it seems like a good fit for EFF too.
That would be great. Perhaps there is a lack of funding to make this possible. Or the EFF, as an NGO, simply does not want to become a provider itself in order to ensure that it remains neutral.
The thing is, for-profit doesn't equal bad. There are a small subset of companies that aim to provide the best service for modest gain, and IMO, they are inherently as trustworthy as orgs like the EFF.
One of the problems is selling out. Like Bandcamp was, so far as I know, a cool way to share and sell music. Musicians got a good cut, customers got drm free music. But then they sold out because a few guys at the top could walk away with a hundred million dollars, and now the site's probably going to be enshittified or sold for parts.
Maybe we should rearrange our financial and tax incentives so long term earnings are better than short term, somehow.
I understand that perspective. In a lot of cases, people sell out because they are burnt out (Notch with Mojang/Minecraft) or because they think it's best for their company and its vision (LucasArts).
I don't think we can have a good solution to this issue until "creating shareholder value" moves down from 1st to 3rd or 4th or lower on the list of priorities for large companies.