All articles tagged with #collective action
UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal has allowed a £656m collective action against Valve over Steam pricing, accusing the company of abusing market dominance by forcing publishers into restrictive terms and charging up to 30% commissions, potentially compensating up to 14 million UK users since 2018. Valve disputes proceeding, while a separate US action exists.
The article explores how corporate America, including media, finance, and tech industries, has historically caved to presidential pressure due to fear, competition, and the breakdown of a cohesive business elite, highlighting a shift towards shareholder capitalism that prioritizes short-term profits and stock prices over collective resistance or civic responsibility.
Forty years after its release, 'The Goonies' remains a powerful allegory for collective action and community resilience in the face of hardship, emphasizing that shared differences and collaboration are key to overcoming systemic scarcity and rewriting the ending together.
Residents of Christiania, Denmark, joined authorities to tear up cobblestones on Pusher Street, known for drug sales, as part of a renewal project to combat rising crime and insecurity. The enclave, once a libertarian, hippie paradise, has been plagued by drug violence, prompting locals to take a stand against the situation. The removal of cobblestones marks the first step in integrating the community into the Danish capital, with plans for new infrastructure and housing. Residents hope to return to the founding ideals of art, culture, and collective living, aiming to create a peaceful and welcoming environment.
At the Game Developers Conference, a panel of industry professionals made a strong case for unionization in the gaming industry, emphasizing the need for protections against layoffs, crunch, and unilateral changes. They highlighted the power of collective action and the accountability unions bring to companies. The panel also hinted at a potential nationwide union effort, signaling a significant shift in the industry's labor landscape.
A study conducted by researchers from multiple institutions suggests that rewarding individuals for contributing to a virtual public good, such as online ratings, can improve the accuracy and overall quality of the resource. The study used a simulation involving over 500 participants and found that incentivizing contributions increased the proportion of individuals who left ratings from 35% to 70%. Free riders who responded to incentives provided higher quality evaluations and balanced out over-optimistic ratings from intrinsically motivated contributors. The findings have implications for online rating systems and other collective action problems.
Boots Riley's new series "I'm A Virgo" explores the power dynamics and political implications of superheroes, shattering the binary of good and evil. The story revolves around Cootie, a giant teenager living in Oakland, California, who becomes a target due to his size and race. The series features a fascist "hero" driven by corruption and bigotry and a misunderstood leading man driven to populist crime. The show presents a third option beyond heroes and villains, where citizens don't have to wait for a hero to step up and save them, but instead asks what it would look like for the people to save themselves.
The development of AI exemplifies the "free rider problem," where individuals benefit from a collective action but do not contribute their fair share. While some tech companies have acknowledged the risks posed by AI and called for regulation, others continue to develop and train advanced AIs. Effective regulation and enforcement of AI would require global collective action and cooperation, just as with climate change. Without enforcement, there will be free riders, and the AI threat won't abate anytime soon.