Norway's Consumer Council Calls for Right to Repair and Antitrust Enforcement - and Mocks 'Enshittification' (forbrukerradet.no) 69
The Norwegian Consumer Council, a government funded organization advocating for consumer's rights, released a report on the trend of "enshittification" in digital consumer goods and services, suggesting ways consumers for consumers to resist. But they've also dramatized the problem with a funny four-minute video about the man whose calls for him to make things shitty for people.
"It's not just your imagination. Digital services are getting worse," the video concludes — before adding that "Luckily, it doesn't have to be this way." The Consumer Council's announcement recommends:
"It's not just your imagination. Digital services are getting worse," the video concludes — before adding that "Luckily, it doesn't have to be this way." The Consumer Council's announcement recommends:
- Stronger rights for consumers to control, adapt, repair, and alter their products and services,
- Interoperability, data portability, and decentralisation as the norm, so the threshold for moving to different services becomes as low as possible,
- Deterrent and vigorous enforcement of competition law, so that Big Tech companies are not allowed to indiscriminately acquire start-ups, competitors or otherwise steer the market to their advantage,
- Better financing of initiatives to build, maintain or improve alternative digital services and infrastructure based on open source code and open protocols,
- Reduce public sector dependence on big tech, to regain control and to contribute to a functioning market for service providers that respect fundamental rights,
- Deterrent and consistent enforcement of other laws, including consumer and data protection law.
The Norwegian Consumer Council is also joining 58 organisations and experts in a letter asking the Norwegian government to rebalance power with enforcement resources and by prioritizing the procurement of services based on open source code. And "Our sister organisations are sending similar letters to their own governments in 12 countries."
They're also sending a second letter to the European Commission with 29 civil society organisations (including the EFF and Amnesty International) warning about the risks of deregulation and calling for reducing dependency on big tech.
Thanks to Slashdot reader DeanonymizedCoward for sharing the news.
Re:Great but (Score:5, Insightful)
Education is important. There's a whole generation who doesn't understand enshittification because they were born into shit. It's important that everyone understand that the status quo is not the best there can be.
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You know, that's an excellent point. Better antitrust enforcement would help with enshittification.
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Antitrust enforcement doesn't do anything. Alternatives on the market does not preclude vendor lockin for a individual power reasons. E.g. If you buy a set of spotify connect speakers, or a TV with a Netflix app you're less likely to drop either. Also if Google shuts down the remote Nest control feature you're not going to run out and spend $600 to replace all your heating controllers in the house just to use your phone, you're not going to swap all your lightbulbs with a different brand because Philips dro
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There are instances where it could help. When companies become so large they can buy any startups that look like they might eventually compete, that's a problem. Think facebook and instagram or facebook and whatsapp.
Forcing microsoft to properly support open document formats would be another win. Or doing something about Apple's stranglehold on in-app purchasing methods. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples where companies with monopolies are abusing their power.
I've never bought anything like th
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Also the way this guy says "shitty" is the best bit of ASMR I've heard in a decade.
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There's a whole generation who doesn't understand enshittification because they were born into shit.
I think people born in the 2000's understand perfectly well how better it was to be born in the 60's. Maybe they won't get bought off like My gen. did.
Re:Great but (Score:5, Interesting)
You do not live in Norway.
Most likely you live in America, where this kind of lip service is common. Partly because of the size - 348 million people.
Norway is a much smaller country - about 5.7 million (about 1.6% of the size of the US).
Its more like living in a small town where people know each other and track whether you keep your promises. There is a reason why Norway is in the top 5 happiest countries. The government actually tries to keep people happy.
Note, it helps that they do not have to maintain a crushingly powerful military and the debt that comes with it.
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Correction: ... the debt that comes from obeying billiioniares who manipulate the election process and taxation laws.
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It helps that Norway is an immensely rich country. It's sovereign wealth fund alone is worth over £2tn/$300k per citizen. They don't have to pander to corporate interests.
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Again, the government actually cares about the citizens and tries to make them happy.
The UK could have been the same. We had oil in the North Sea, but instead of setting up a public company and putting all the profits into a sovereign wealth fund, we let private companies keep all the money. The Scots got robbed.
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That sounds HORRIBLE! That poor money, all locked up in a liberal hellhole. Sounds like they need to be added to the Liberty List.
Re:Great but (Score:5, Interesting)
The concept of a government that's actually useful and is on the people's side is something alien to most Americans, even when the US government is run by Democrats. It's a sign of how bad politics have been on this side of the country since before Reagan, but it's also why politics are so bad in the US. I genuinely think that if America had, for example, a national health system maintained by the government, people would be more invested in elections, and politicians keener to prove their competence.
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The concept of a government that's actually useful and is on the people's side is something alien to most Americans, even when the US government is run by Democrats. It's a sign of how bad politics have been on this side of the country since before Reagan, but it's also why politics are so bad in the US. I genuinely think that if America had, for example, a national health system maintained by the government, people would be more invested in elections, and politicians keener to prove their competence.
Even when the US government tries to be more helpful and useful, like Obama, some people will do everything they can to destroy it and undermine it.
The US has ended up with the politics it deserves.
Obama (and the RNC) was thwarted by Fox News (Score:4, Interesting)
The concept of a government that's actually useful and is on the people's side is something alien to most Americans, even when the US government is run by Democrats. It's a sign of how bad politics have been on this side of the country since before Reagan, but it's also why politics are so bad in the US. I genuinely think that if America had, for example, a national health system maintained by the government, people would be more invested in elections, and politicians keener to prove their competence.
Even when the US government tries to be more helpful and useful, like Obama, some people will do everything they can to destroy it and undermine it. The US has ended up with the politics it deserves.
Obama had great ideas, but didn't know how to counter the full-time propaganda machine that is Fox News. We've never seen propaganda in the USA that organized and powerful and thus no one knew what to do with it. It was nascent during the Clinton years and on GWB's side. We're not used to dealing with propaganda organizations that really have no regard for the truth. Our modern society and politics assumed that most news tried to be objective.
Fox News not only doesn't argue in bad faith...what's unique about them is how powerful and influential they are. We've had yellow journalism, but it was local/regional in the past. It is a cancer that will kill the country if we don't find an effective strategy to counter it.
The biggest issue with Fox News is not that they wreck Democratic administrations...it's that they tolerate Republican mediocrity. They don't have a conservative agenda. Their agenda is to let the Republican win at all cost. Until we get a decent Republican Party, the USA will continue on it's death spiral.
Sadly, there's nothing good people can do to fix the USA, so long as the bad people have a popular channel that will sway the election every year in their favor and cover up their mistakes. We're dependent on the bad people in power in the USA to wake up and realize how they're killing our prosperity. I'm not even talking social issues. I you don't think LGBTQ people or minorities are human beings, there's nothing I can do to sway you. However, I can tell you that tax breaks for the wealthy are not helping you out. Tariffs are not lowering your costs or controlling inflation. The policies conservatives vote for harm them economically...and thus magnify their grievances with the system...and make them watch more Fox News for outrage porn every night.
The people serve the gov, sadly (Score:2)
The concept of a government that's actually useful and is on the people's side is something alien to most Americans, even when the US government is run by Democrats. It's a sign of how bad politics have been on this side of the country since before Reagan, but it's also why politics are so bad in the US. I genuinely think that if America had, for example, a national health system maintained by the government, people would be more invested in elections, and politicians keener to prove their competence.
The American mindset is that the people serve the government, not that the government serves the people...and we only act when we're angry, not when things are OK. When things are OK? We let corporations rule the world and then get suckered by propaganda from the billionaire class as well as the Chamber of Commerce to vote Republicans into office for minor grievances, often stupid culture war bullshit that only impacts 1-5% of the nation....and the Republicans reliably fuck things up, economically because
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The concept of a government that's actually useful and is on the people's side is something alien to most Americans
As far as I can tell, all governments everywhere have politicians that kow-tow to whomever is financing them. The people financing the politicians have no interests other than their own interests. There are no governments that server their citizens, just business owners who finance politicians.
Re: Great but (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course there is such thing as liberal excess. And there used to be such thing as reasonable conservatism. But the language you choose is the tell for where you fall on the spectrum.
Re: Great but (Score:2)
drugs, guns, prostitution...
Really strange that people have to ask permission for those when in the USA these are all allowed everywhere... oh no they don't. In fact, Norway is more permissive than the USA wrt real freedom, which is also the freedom of other people from the effects of your stupidity.
Do I really want to send my kids to a school where yours is taking his AR15 to class today because he got turned down by a girl? That's not freedom, that's living in fear.
Re:Great but (Score:4, Insightful)
Their culture is very submissive to power. CV19 compliance there was near universal
This might be explained by a good education system. It's possible that most of their citizens understand the germ theory of disease [wikipedia.org].
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ok so now I know that you are talking pure bs. FYI the skatepark in Moss is huge and it would take tons upon tons of sand (which is not readily available in the area) to even cover a small part of the park. Secondly no one in the Moss Skateboardklubb knows that the F you are even referring to. And thirdly where did they move all the sand, we are talking about 350 metric tons of sand and there is not a single grain of sand anywhere near the skate park, which is strange, did your friends ate all that sand? An
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I'm thinking big picture here. If you're trying to stop the spread of an airborne illness, following evidence-based guidelines like getting vaccinated, wearing masks, and social distancing is going to help. And these things work better when more people do them. An educated populace in a country where this issue has not been politicized will follow the guidelines because they understand what's going on and want to help.
The US was one of the few places where this issue was politicized, unfortunately.
Re: Great but (Score:2)
Norway can't, but I'm sure North Korea comes pretty close.
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Re:Great but (Score:4, Interesting)
The best way to see the difference between the US and Norway is in the centre of Oslo.
One one side of the street is the park containing the royal palace, with people wandering through the park, having picnics, smelling the flowers, etc. There are no barriers, you can walk right up to the walls of the palace.
On the other side of the street is the maximum-security prison that is the US embassy, with the US staff cowering behind locked gates and steel bars and armed guards.
I've never seen a better illustration of the difference between the two countries than this. The difference is so jarring that if I were the US I'd be moving my prison-embassy to Nesodden out of embarassment.
Re:Great but (Score:5, Funny)
One one side of the street is the park containing the royal palace, with people wandering through the park, having picnics, smelling the flowers, etc. There are no barriers, you can walk right up to the walls of the palace.
On the other side of the street is the maximum-security prison that is the US embassy, with the US staff cowering behind locked gates and steel bars and armed guards.
It has to be that way. The people over there smelling flowers and having picnics hate American freedom, and would storm the embassy in a heartbeat.
Either that, or the bars and guards were put there by the Norwegians to keep the Americans from escaping.
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I'm looking but not finding a picture to match this, care to share?
I'd honestly like to see this, and my duck-fu didn't find this
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In its early days, the building was accessible to the public, and was known for its extensive music library containing jazz and rock-and-roll favorites. Later, as security concerns rose, the building was shut off from locals, earning it the nickname âoeFortress Americaâ. Residents hope that following the sale, the building will be returned to its âoeCultural Houseâ roots
It looks like it's been de-prisoned once the US moved out [wallpaper.com]:
The striking, monochromatic US Embassy in Oslo, which opened in 1959, was one of only three buildings in Europe by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen. As a result of increasing security concerns from the end of the 1990s onwards, fences, bollards and armed guards were gradually installed around the building, rendering it fortress-like and impenetrable. This was the polar opposite of the original intention, explains Jonas Norsted of architecture practice Atelier Oslo, who worked alongside another Oslo-based firm, LundHagem, on the buildingâ(TM)s restoration and extension.
Enjoy your USA-funded safety & prosperity (Score:2)
Note, it helps that they do not have to maintain a crushingly powerful military and the debt that comes with it.
Oops, you said the quiet part out loud. Europe enjoys so much peace and prosperity because the USA (used to be) happy with footing the bill to maintain a massive military to ensure your enemies don't seize your ships or invade your land. Trust me, the Soviet Union would LOVE to have Norway. MANY nations want to raid Norway's vessels.
After WW2, European militaries could maintain small "just in case" forces...not the fully force needed to deter to Soviet Union or Modern Russia. Most of the European mil
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Europe benefitted more than the USA (Score:2)
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Oh, for fuck's sake. During the cold war most European countries had huge armies and compulsary military service, so don't come with this "all thanks to us" bullshit. The sole reason for the difference in the size of the armed forces was that the USA wanted to be able to project power everywhere in the world and be able to participate in two wars at the same time, while most of us Europeans only needed to protect their homeland.
Besides, the only country to ever trigger the NATO article 5 was the USA and the
EU only had to protect homeland (Score:2)
Oh, for fuck's sake. During the cold war most European countries had huge armies and compulsary military service, so don't come with this "all thanks to us" bullshit. The sole reason for the difference in the size of the armed forces was that the USA wanted to be able to project power everywhere in the world and be able to participate in two wars at the same time, while most of us Europeans only needed to protect their homeland.
Great strategy if you don't participate in international commerce. Protecting your borders is very important, but unless you don't rely on import or export over the ocean, then you've got a problem, don't you? Maintaining a huge navy is very expensive...and completely unnecessary if you can trust every nation on the earth to never want to seize your vessel...all the nations on the earth are trustworthy right? No country would ever be tempted to steal your stuff...and they all actually fight their local p
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You seem to be a stereotype of an American - ignorant, yet opinionated.
First, Sweden was neutral until 2024. Not in NATO, not protected by the USA. Second, the USA profited off their military influence handsomely - Bretton Woods, petrodollar, all this was helping to export American inflation abroad. So basically your military was funded by us, not the other way around. Third, European nations were quite capable of themselves to protect their vessels and, in fact, warships of multiple European nations kept t
Kewl strawman, but you have a lot to learn (Score:2)
Saw this on Louis Rossman's blog (Score:2)
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This guy gets it.
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Though I detest his communist leanings, I must admit he's 100% right about enshittification. It's a very real and noticeable phenomenon. But rather than favoring heavy-handed government intervention to "solve" it I'd rather instead focus on the government preventing monopolies from forming, like they're supposed to be doing already, so that market competition can keep product quality in check.
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Which bad faith garbage specifically?
I read Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town a long time ago on the recommendation of a friend and thought it wasn't very good.
If you start and forcing antitrust law (Score:2)
I do wonder what sort of nonsense propaganda would start showing up in my feed if there was a serious chance of antitrust law being enforced. Probably nothing directed at antitrust law enforcement but general propaganda to get the kind of people who don't enforce those laws elected.
Joe Biden had a couple dozen antitrust cases that he was working on before losing the election including a couple to reduce the price of eggs and meat.
Epic video (Score:5, Insightful)
The video is epic. It's better than most comedy sketch videos.
I hope it moves people to act, especially in Europe. I've more or less given up hope for the USA, whose government is owned by corporations, or for Canada, whose government is only a few steps behind the USA in terms of being owned by corporations.
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I saw the video yesterday when Louis Rossmann showcased it on his channel. I thought it was very funny too. "Make it Shitty" LOL
Re:Epic video (Score:4, Interesting)
I hope it moves people to act, especially in Europe.
The problem is the video is only showing the problem, it doesn't describe what comes next. What can I do? The solution of "vote with your wallet" is often akin to "give up the thing you have" as an alternative is not so easy to come by.
E.g. Do I give up Netflix? Cable has gotten worse and worse, and all alternate streaming platforms are equally shitty.
Do I give up Spotify? Yeah there's less enshittified streaming services, but none that have a car app, or work with Spotify Connect speakers.
Do I spend hundreds of Euros replacing a Nest thermostat?
Do I replace all the lightbulbs in my house because Philips blocked something on their router?
Do I give up gaming because Windows became shit? It's not like Linux works with anti-cheat.
The video actually highlights that problem when the guy says "Sell me a car. Sold! Now you don't have any money to buy another car and I'm going to make your car shitty!"
Consumers are borderline unable to do anything about enshittification, they can only refuse to buy things which are pre-existingly shitty, or they can refuse to buy things that can be made shitty. Both options lock them out of some form of modern comforts which is precisley why enshittification is so damn effictive. Whoever came up with it won't spend an eternity in hell, the Devil himself won't let them in because they are too evil.
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No I think you do the usual tech thing and have never spoken to a user.
TV, for example. You get a nearly maximum-comfort situation with piracy.
No. Piracy requires significant effort on my behalf. Find something, download something, store it somewhere, connect it to the TV. "Maximum-comfort" is turning the TV on, clicking the Netflix button and seeing a show there and clicking play.
I think you don't understand the concept of the word. Your confusing it with freedom and DRM. Please keep your rant to a topic where it is relevant.
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I have found that sticking to principles works fairly well. I don't always
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I have found that sticking to principles works fairly well.
For you. But the reality is the vast majority of the population isn't principled.
I get the functionality I needed from the device, but without giving up my data.
No you adopted the enshittification by dropping features. For example, enshittification of Nest that I was using as an example is that Google is dropping Nest Connect. Your example here is that you actively chose not to use the equivalent feature in the first place. You're literally self-enshittifying my example.
Instead, I have the Lyrion Music Server
While not as bad as the other example, what you describe here is something that is many MANY orders of magnitude more
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I have used duckduckgo for my searching for years. I shun Facebook, Messenger, X, Instagram, Tiktok. I have had all my family and friends join Signal. There are more and more alternatives, really,
I use a non-shitty non-oligarchy e-mail service, Proton.
And I know people who go all oligarch free. Sure, they are enthusiasts, but alternatives are becoming more and more available.
And remember that the shitty products have a lifetime of 3-8 years, tops. They will go
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And remember that the shitty products have a lifetime of 3-8 years, tops.
Whose rectum did you pull those numbers from? There's countless products that are enshittified and have been for a LONG time with incredible staying power. Hell those things you "shun" some of those have started going down the enshittification trend literally decades ago.
There are more and more alternatives, really
If you're simply quoting available alternatives then you've missed the point of enshittification. The whole point is locking comes first, then comes enshittification. You managed to convince your family to move to Signal? Congrats. I sure a
Stop Buying What You Hate And Kill the Lock-In, No (Score:2)
Let small companies and inventors survive by owning weird niches. Thatâ(TM)s where resilience and real innovation usually start. If big platforms are squeezing them out through bundling, lock in, app store tolls, data hoarding, or buying rivals just to bury them, thatâ(TM)s the structural problem. Fix the gatekeeping. Thatâ(TM)s what antitrust is supposed to do.
And this is basically how Europeâ(TM)s recycling model works. You donâ(TM)t lecture people into circular economies. You cre
Stronger rights to use what you paid for (Score:4, Insightful)
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My son has declared a EULA, that companies he deals with, like insurance agents, will respond in a timely manner, and provide what service or goods they're selling as advertised. Or they've broken his EULA, and he can sue.
Foreign interference (Score:2)
Neither Norway nor US-organisations like the EFF are part of the EU constituency.