Oh damn, that was quite a difference with Red Team Blue. I actually bought quite some time ago but the book stayed on my pile for months.

The topic itself is in line with other books I have read and reviewed here as well as others which will come in their own time. Split in 2 parts, it focuses on the tools used by platforms to become monopolies or monopsonies, ie become buyers with such power producers have no choice but to bend to their will.

While it was written in 2022, it focuses on topics extremely important in 2023: the creative industry as a whole (books, movies, music) and the different medium which have gained undue power on them. The book is 99% focusing on the US but given its impact on the global pop culture and the force with which the us and its companies impose their view on other countries legal systems.

As mentioned above, the book is split in 2 parts: case studies in the first and solutions in the second.

I really liked the first part. The right balance between technical and human aspects, clear explanations and historical context.

I hated the the second part. Not because it was unintersting or because the solution the two authors propose are inadequate but because it reads as an extremely dry, boring US case law lecture. And I don’t care about that. And, to be frank, I skipped more and more paragraph as my migraine intensified as I was pushing through the book, rushing to switch to a more interesting book.

Final word

Hard for me to recommend the book. If you want the main points, listen to one of Cory Doctorow’s interviews, for example in this This Machine Kills episode.