Dear @EU_Commission, I said this at the European Parliament but let me repeat it:

Public funding for tech should come with a stipulation that the organisations that take (our) public funds should not then be able to take venture capital (VC) and have private capital enclose what is built with that public funding.

Context: Delta Chat (@delta), which has received public funding from multiple #EU funds, #NLNet, etc. is reportedly now considering a VC offer.

#DeltaChat #EU #VentureCapital #VC

Celebrating Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists showing an interest in the fediverse is like celebrating wolves showing an interest in your chicken coop.

#SiliconValley #billionaires #vc #ventureCapital #BigTech #colonialism #fediverse #mastodon

… Or, in what a previous head of public policy at Mozilla told me while we were chatting before our talks at a data protection conference:

“Aral, we’re just another Silicon Valley tech company, I don’t understand why you’re holding us to a such a higher standard.”

When I finally managed to pick my jaw off the floor the only retort I could manage was: “But that’s not what you tell people.”

3/3

#Mozilla #fediverse #SiliconValley #ventureCapital #BigTech