Cory Doctorow

Author, activist, and critic of technology monopolies and digital rights management.

Mentions

Appeared in

Discussed in

Key positions and views

Tech platforms undergo a predictable decay process called 'enshittification,' where they pivot from serving users to exploiting them and their business customers for the benefit of shareholders.

Effective tech regulation must focus on dismantling monopoly power through structural remedies like mandated interoperability, rather than merely regulating the conduct of dominant firms.

Laws created to protect copyright, especially the DMCA, have been co-opted by large firms to stifle competition, prevent repairs, block accessibility improvements, and lock consumers into proprietary ecosystems.

The generative AI industry is a speculative bubble characterized by unsustainable economics, including massive capital costs relative to revenue and inflated financial reporting through accounting maneuvers.

Collective action through unionization and sectoral bargaining is a more potent tool for creative and gig workers to protect their livelihoods from platform exploitation and AI than seeking new intellectual property laws.

Podcast consensus on Doctorow

Points of consensus

▶Doctorow consistently asserts that the U.S. Copyright Office has ruled works created solely by AI are ineligible for copyright protection, a point he raises in multiple podcast appearances.Apr 2026

▶Across both sources, he argues that large advertising expenditures on digital platforms are often ineffective and potentially fraudulent, citing Procter & Gamble's experience of cutting hundreds of millions in ad spend with no corresponding drop in sales.Feb 2026

▶He repeatedly identifies the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as a primary tool for anti-competitive behavior, arguing it is used to stifle innovation, block interoperability, and harm accessibility rather than protect copyright.Feb 2026

▶He consistently frames big tech companies as monopolies that engage in illegal anti-competitive behavior, citing specific examples like Amazon's predatory pricing against diapers.com, Meta's acquisition of Instagram to neutralize a competitor, and Google's payments to Apple.Feb 2026

Points of debate

▶Doctorow's position that unionization and sectoral bargaining are the most effective defense for creative workers against AI contrasts with the more common industry focus on expanding copyright law to address AI-generated works.Apr 2026

▶His advocacy for dismantling tech power through mandated interoperability represents a different regulatory philosophy from the historical U.S. approach, which has focused more on regulating the conduct of large firms rather than their structural dominance.Apr 2026

▶His characterization of the generative AI industry as a speculative bubble with unsustainable economics, propped up by accounting maneuvers, serves as a strong counter-narrative to the prevailing market optimism and massive capital investment in the sector.

▶He frames the widespread use of ad-blockers as the 'largest consumer boycott in history,' elevating a common user practice to a significant act of collective market resistance, a perspective not typically shared by industry analysts.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶Enshittification: The Platform Decay Lifecycle

Doctorow posits a three-stage process he terms 'enshittification,' where digital platforms initially offer value to attract users, then abuse users to benefit business customers, and finally abuse business customers to extract all value for shareholders. This framework is used to explain the declining quality and user experience on platforms like Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

For investors, this model suggests that the long-term value of platform-based businesses may be inherently self-limiting, as the final stage of value extraction actively alienates the user and business ecosystems the platform depends on.

▶Antitrust and Interoperability as a RemedyApr 2026

A core theme is that tech monopolies actively suppress competition through acquisitions, predatory pricing, and collusive agreements. Doctorow argues that the most effective solution is not regulating their behavior but dismantling their power by forcing them to be interoperable, allowing new services to connect and giving users the freedom to leave.

A regulatory shift towards mandated interoperability, as seen in Europe, represents the most significant systemic threat to the 'walled garden' business models of companies like Apple and Meta.

▶Weaponization of Copyright and DRMFeb 2026

Doctorow argues that laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have been weaponized far beyond their original intent. He claims they are now used to prevent security research, block accessibility features, enforce hardware monopolies (like printer ink), and eliminate competition, making it a felony to modify software for lawful purposes.

Analysts should view DRM and related laws not just as copyright tools but as powerful competitive moats that create legal barriers to entry and increase switching costs for consumers, locking in market dominance.

▶The Unstable Economics of AI and Ad Tech

Doctorow expresses deep skepticism about the financial viability of both generative AI and the digital advertising market. He portrays AI as a speculative bubble with massive capital expenditures and questionable revenue streams propped up by accounting tricks, and ad tech as a market rife with fraud.

Investors should apply heightened scrutiny to the reported revenues of AI and ad-tech companies, as Doctorow's claims suggest that top-line figures may not reflect genuine economic activity or sustainable business models.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Not enough data for timeline

Changes over time

1988

Cites the passage of the Video Privacy Protection Act as the last major federal privacy law enacted in the United States.

1998

References the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which he argues criminalized software modification and DRM circumvention, becoming a key tool for anti-competitive behavior.

2017

Highlights the decision by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to add Digital Rights Management (DRM) to web standards, a move he claims was forced by major tech and media companies.

2018

Points to Procter & Gamble cutting $200 million in Facebook advertising spend and seeing no decrease in sales as evidence of widespread digital ad fraud.

2019

Cites evidence from a DOJ lawsuit indicating Google deliberately degraded its search results to drive more user searches and ad views.

2023

Refers to the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google, which brought to light internal documents about the company's anti-competitive practices.

Suggested prompts

How would Doctorow's proposed interoperability mandates impact the valuation and business models of major tech platforms like Apple and Meta? &nearr;What are the second-order effects on the software and hardware industries if the DMCA's anti-circumvention clauses were repealed as Doctorow advocates? &nearr;Based on Doctorow's 'enshittification' framework, at what stage are current major platforms like TikTok, Amazon, and Google, and what does this predict about their future actions? &nearr;If Doctorow's analysis of AI economics is correct, what are the systemic risks to the venture capital and cloud computing sectors that are heavily invested in the AI boom? &nearr;

Key concepts

Antitrust & Monopoly 2 ep Digital Rights Management (DRM) 2 ep Copyright Law 2 ep AI Economics 2 ep Ad Tech & Surveillance 2 ep Interoperability 2 ep Tech Regulation 2 ep Labor & Gig Economy 1 ep Enshittification 1 ep

Notable quotes

“The process of 'inshittification' describes how platforms first are good to their end users to lock them in, then make things worse for users to benefit business customers, and finally abuse business customers to harvest all available surplus for shareholders.”

Cory Doctorow · How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet, with Cory Doctorow | Decoder

“Evidence presented in the Department of Justice's 2023 antitrust case against Google showed that the company deliberately worsened its search results in 2019 to compel users to perform more searches, thereby increasing ad views.”

Cory Doctorow · How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet, with Cory Doctorow | Decoder

“The generative AI industry has an estimated $700 billion in capital expenditures against only $45 billion in annual gross revenue.”

Cory Doctorow · How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet, with Cory Doctorow | Decoder

“Under laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, it becomes a felony to change it, even for a lawful purpose.”

Cory Doctorow · BONUS: How the Internet Got Worse with Cory Doctorow | Masters in Business

Report last updated: Apr 21, 2026

Get started free

Back to Entities Intelligence Report