What will I learn about: Much of the foundational technology of the internet was created through government-sponsored programs and public funding, not the profit-driven free market?

Much of the foundational technology of the internet was created through government-sponsored programs and public funding, not the profit-driven free market.

What will I learn about: The rampant tax evasion and anti-regulation stance of modern tech monopolies are deeply rooted in the libertarian philosophies championed by early Silicon Valley founders?

The rampant tax evasion and anti-regulation stance of modern tech monopolies are deeply rooted in the libertarian philosophies championed by early Silicon Valley founders.

What will I learn about: Tech giants like Google and Amazon maintain their market dominance by acting as digital rent-seekers and spending millions to influence government legislation in their favor?

Tech giants like Google and Amazon maintain their market dominance by acting as digital rent-seekers and spending millions to influence government legislation in their favor.

What will I learn about: Free online services treat users as the product, ruthlessly harvesting and selling massive amounts of personal data with little regard for user privacy?

Free online services treat users as the product, ruthlessly harvesting and selling massive amounts of personal data with little regard for user privacy.

What will I learn about: The current digital distribution system exploits creators by enabling piracy and paying low streaming royalties, but artists can fight back by forming independent cooperatives to control their own content?

The current digital distribution system exploits creators by enabling piracy and paying low streaming royalties, but artists can fight back by forming independent cooperatives to control their own content.

Move Fast and Break Things

How Facebook, Google and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy

Jonathan Taplin

★ 3.7 / 5(81 ratings)

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Categories:

Society & Culture Technology & the Future

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡How did government-funded programs, rather than profit-driven Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, actually lay the foundational technology for the internet?
💡Why did tech giants like Google actively lobby against anti-piracy legislation, and how do they profit from the illegal distribution of artists' work?
💡How could a cooperative business model, similar to the one created by WWII-era photographers, help modern musicians and creators take back control of their revenue from streaming monopolies?

Listen to Move Fast and Break Things — Free Audiobook

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Key Takeaways from Move Fast and Break Things

✓Much of the foundational technology of the internet was created through government-sponsored programs and public funding, not the profit-driven free market.
✓The rampant tax evasion and anti-regulation stance of modern tech monopolies are deeply rooted in the libertarian philosophies championed by early Silicon Valley founders.
✓Tech giants like Google and Amazon maintain their market dominance by acting as digital rent-seekers and spending millions to influence government legislation in their favor.
✓Free online services treat users as the product, ruthlessly harvesting and selling massive amounts of personal data with little regard for user privacy.
✓The current digital distribution system exploits creators by enabling piracy and paying low streaming royalties, but artists can fight back by forming independent cooperatives to control their own content.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Move Fast and Break Things

Mind Map

Move Fast and Break Things

Myth of the Free Market Innovator+

Libertarian Ideology & Tax Evasion+

The Rise of Tech Monopolies+

Political Influence & Rent-Seeking+

The Cost of Piracy+

Privacy Invasion & Data Harvesting+

Solutions for a Fairer Future+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8

According to the book, what fundamentally laid the groundwork for foundational technologies like the internet and the microchip?

A. Profit-driven innovation from free-market tech startups.
B. Government-funded programs and public sector incentives.
C. The libertarian philosophy of early Silicon Valley pioneers.
D. The deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the 1980s.

Question 2 of 8

How did tech leaders like Jeff Bezos utilize a 1992 Supreme Court ruling to their advantage?

A. By legally preventing unionization among their warehouse and delivery workers.
B. By claiming intellectual property rights over open-source code.
C. By avoiding state taxes in areas where they lacked a physical store, allowing them to undercut local competition.
D. By classifying their employees as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits.

Question 3 of 8

How did legal scholar Robert Bork influence antitrust enforcement in the United States?

A. He argued that monopolies were beneficial to consumer welfare, leading to a significant drop in antitrust filings.
B. He strengthened the Sherman Act to easily break up modern tech monopolies.
C. He ruled that internet companies were entirely exempt from federal trade regulations.
D. He successfully lobbied for the complete dismantling of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Question 4 of 8

How did Google successfully help defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in 2012?

A. By threatening to move its corporate headquarters out of the United States.
B. By mobilizing its massive user base via its homepage to flood congressional representatives with emails.
C. By purchasing the major entertainment companies that originally supported the bill.
D. By secretly funding a rival bill through anonymous shell corporations.

Question 5 of 8

What was the devastating irony of the internet piracy boom for musicians like Levon Helm?

A. They gained millions of new fans but were legally banned from touring by their record labels.
B. They sold more physical albums than ever but lost all their digital streaming rights.
C. They were forced to pay exorbitant fees to piracy sites to have their stolen music removed.
D. People were listening to their music more than ever, yet their royalty incomes dropped to almost nothing.

Question 6 of 8

What does the phrase 'If you’re not the customer, you’re the product' mean in the context of companies like Google and Facebook?

A. Users must create their own content to keep the platforms functional.
B. The companies' primary business model relies on harvesting and selling user data to advertisers.
C. Users are forced to purchase hardware to access supposedly free software.
D. The platforms charge a hidden subscription fee after a free trial period ends.

Question 7 of 8

How does the author use Aldous Huxley’s novel 'Brave New World' to illustrate the dangers of the modern internet?

A. It depicts a society overwhelmed by readily available information, reducing facts to trivial noise.
B. It describes a future where people are heavily surveilled by a totalitarian government.
C. It predicts the rise of artificial intelligence replacing human artists and writers.
D. It warns against the creation of a single, global digital currency controlled by a monopoly.

Question 8 of 8

What alternative distribution model does the author suggest artists use to take back power from tech giants?

A. Releasing their music entirely for free to build a lucrative live-touring audience.
B. Boycotting the internet entirely and returning exclusively to physical media sales.
C. Forming artist-run cooperatives and using a tiered release strategy across platforms.
D. Suing individual users who illegally download or stream their music.

Move Fast and Break Things — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
2Many major technological advances were backed by government support.
3Libertarian leaders have been reshaping the tech world while avoiding taxes.
4Monopolies have long raised concerns and still threaten fair competition.
5Major tech companies use their dominance to shape politics in their favor.
6Piracy is a major business that takes from artists and creators.
7Free services often invade users’ privacy in the relentless pursuit of data.
8Art and community are essential to building a better future for everyone.
9If artists unite to control their own content, they may be able to push back against tech giants.
10Final summary

Move Fast and Break Things Summary & Overview

Move Fast and Break Things (2017) takes a look at the grim reality of how giant tech companies are harming society in ways both big and small. By dodging taxes, they’re keeping money from government programs that have been behind some of our greatest innovations, and in their desperate hunt for data and profits, they’re invading our privacy while fleecing the creators of art and high-quality entertainment. Author Jonathan Taplin offers some light at the end of this dark tunnel, suggesting there may be better ways of negotiating with this technology.

Who Should Listen to Move Fast and Break Things?

Anyone concerned about the ethics of modern technology
Creative types interested in the economics of art
Socially conscious artists interested in alternative distribution methods

About the Author: Jonathan Taplin

Jonathan Taplin is an American writer and film producer. Since 2004 he’s been a teacher at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He began his career as a concert producer for legendary musicians such as Bob Dylan and The Band, which led to producing movies such as Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. He is also the author of the 2010 book Outlaw Blues: Adventures in the Counter-Culture Wars.

Move Fast and Break Things

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to Move Fast and Break Things — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from Move Fast and Break Things

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Move Fast and Break Things — Full Chapter Overview

Move Fast and Break Things Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to Move Fast and Break Things?

About the Author: Jonathan Taplin

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