Aral Balkan

Having Microsoft organise a European Sovereign Tech Fund is like having Anheuser-Busch be your AA sponsor.

#EuropeanSovereignTechFund #microsoft #corporateCapture #openSource #freeSoftware #FOSS #institutionalCorruption #BigTech #EU

Aral Balkan

The only way Microsoft should be involved in a European Sovereign Tech Fund is if we fund it by taxing the living shit out of them.

But having them organise and influence it (and who gets funded by it), thereby de facto giving Microsoft EU taxpayer subsidies? Get the fuck out of here.

There are no words to describe how angry this attempt at corporate capture gets me when we’ve been working on sovereign tech in the EU for the past seven years with zero EU funding (not for lack of trying).

Note which people and organisations allow their names to be used to legitimise this effort so you don’t trust a thing they say on this subject in the future.

github.blog/open-source/mainta

#EU #FOSS #freedom #tech #funding #EuropeanSovereignTechFund #corporateCapture #openWashing #BigTech #microsoft #GitHub

We need a European Sovereign Tech Fund

With a new feasibility study, GitHub’s developer policy…

The GitHub Blog
OKD :fedora: :kde: 🚴 📷

A voluntary "FOSS subscription"

...for open tools and services that are useful to me.

I'm doing this since summer 2024.

Each project gets paid at least 5€ per month.

Let's take the monthly recurring revenue model of MS365 as an example but fund projects, that won't sell your data 😊

I believe in monthly payments so the projects have a stable budget to operate with.

The list includes now:

- :kde: KDE (desktop on two devices, 10€)
- ✉️ Thunderbird
- 🛜 Signal

Joined today by:

- :mastodon: social.tchncs.de

So if you can, consider paying for the foss services you use 🙂

Thanks for hosting this platform @milan

#opensource #supportYourInstance #supportYourAdmin #donate #fundFoss #foss #kde #signal #thunderbird #bigtech #privacy

Jul 20, 2025, 08:58 · · · 2 · 0
OpenTech(AUC)

"Microsoft can't protect French data from US government access"

"The Senate hearing exposed tensions between sovereignty rhetoric and practical implementation. While French officials promote digital independence, procurement decisions consistently favor non-European solutions for critical infrastructure projects."

ppc.land/microsoft-cant-protec

Where have we seen this before? Oh yes on our own university: opentech-auc.org/posts/2025-04

#DigitalSovereignty #BigTech #usfacism

Microsoft can't protect French data from US government access

Company admits under oath that American authorities…

PPC Land
Open Rights Group

Last night, @pluralistic was in conversation with @mariafarrell to mark ORG's 20th birthday.

This wide-ranging conversation covers everything from the 'Internet dimension' of policy-making to copyright in the age of AI and how to fight for digital rights.

Plus much more!

Missed it live? No worries, you can watch it in full on Youtube 📺

youtube.com/live/M9H2An_D6io

#ORG20 #digitalrights #corydoctorow #AI #copyright #dataprotection #bigtech

Jul 17, 2025, 13:18 · · · 3 · 0
Aral Balkan

Guy next to me at the cafe I’m working out of this morning gets a call:

“… no we don’t live there anymore… no… no, we don’t live there anymore… are you serious?! [my ears perk up] Is this AI?… It is?!”

Spoke to him afterwards. Apparently “some energy company.” And it was an LLM on the other side. He said it sounded so real (a woman who gave him her name and sounded perfectly normal) until he asked it if it was AI when it responded “yes” and then restarted the script.

*smdh*

#AI #BigTech #bullshit #capitalism #Ireland

Jul 17, 2025, 08:46 · · · 1 · 1
Jos Poortvliet

Motivation is a big factor, and I'm reminded of that whenever we onboard new people. They almost always remark about how inspired and passionate people at #Nextcloud are. Yes, we have a mission - to protect people from #BigTech - just think of the latest #WeTransfer controversy, and how many days has it been since Facebook screwed up? Privacy truly matters! And it drives us.

Aral Balkan

This is the Silicon Valley “startup” model. Startups are not long-term sustainable businesses or small businesses. A startup is a temporary business designed to either grow exponentially and exit (sell) or to fail fast.

#startups #ventureCapital #VC #BigTech #SiliconValley

Aral Balkan

A little reminder that DuckDuckGo is venture capital (VC) funded.

The way VC works:

1. You get VC
2. You grow as fast as you can (or fail fast)
3. You sell (either to a larger corporation or to the public in an IPO; this is called the “exit”)

(In case any of you are surprised by recent/future developments.)

#DuckDuckGo #ventureCapital #VC #BigTech #capitalism

Jul 16, 2025, 14:03 · · · 0 · 0
Aral Balkan

“Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk’s, promises xAI”

theverge.com/x-ai/707442/grok-

Anyone remember the days when we actually had a bar? Or at least pretended there was one, no matter how low? I miss those days.

#fascism #BigTech #elonMusk #xAI

Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk’s, promises xAI

After a string of controversies involving antisemitism,…

The Verge
Ondřej Pokorný

So while @EUCommission is slowly realizing its dependence on US #BigTech and debating #DigitalSovereignty it's also pushing a solution for #ageVerification which forces #EU citizens further into the iOS/Google Play duopoly. Even while browsing the #web on the desktop.

ageverification.dev

European Age Verification Solution

ageverification.dev
Jul 15, 2025, 07:49 · · · 0 · 0
DrALJONES

Interview: "Israel's Tech Boom & the Economy of Genocide"

"Israel is known as a startup nation. And the tech part of Israel's economy is central to why the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has boomed since the October 7th attacks."

Francesca Albanese explains the “economy of genocide", ie, how "major corporations have been profiting off of Israel’s genocide in Gaza & its occupation in the West Bank."

zeteo.com/p/israels-tech-boom-

#USPol #EuroPol #EconomyOfGenocide #BigTech #SettlerColonialism @palestine .

Israel's Tech Boom & the Economy of Genocide

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur, joins Naomi…

Zeteo
Dave Lane :flag_tino: 🇳🇿

@va2lam Yeah, the fact that others have now caught up - or found new flavours of evil - doesn't make the original evil any less so. The world would be better for the lack of all of #BigTech. @billbennett @joncounts @bigblen @bananabob @podsrover

Police State UK

"A prominent #AI scientist says she was pressured by the organisers of the UN’s flagship conference on AI to censor parts of her presentation that criticised #Israel over its war in #Gaza and the role of tech giants – hours before taking the stage."

#Censorship #BigTech

genevasolutions.news/science-t

UN AI summit accused of censoring criticism of Israel and big tech over Gaza war

A prominent AI scientist says she was pressured by…

Geneva Solutions
Nextcloud 📱☁️💻

Discover why Nextcloud is the go-to alternative to #BigTech for organizations prioritizing data sovereignty! 🚀

🔒 With Nextcloud, you maintain full control over your data while ensuring robust, stable, and feature-rich private cloud collaboration.

youtu.be/uhrF1F3d2f0

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original…

www.youtube.com