Dear rybn, This is a really interesting and good idea. I’m based in Berlin. I wonder can I join your project help with other segments?
Regards, Yiyao > On 8 May 2025, at 6:15 PM, rybn via nettime-l <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Dear nettimers, > > An announcement toward a new project, but also an invitation to collaborate > for those interested on the subject. > > Regards > > $rybn > > > > - > > WHOISBN? > > WHOISBN? lets you explore the capital relationships in the publishing world: > scan the barcode of a book to check who owns its publisher. > > https://whoisbn.net/fr/ > > - > > How does it work? > > The ISBN is a unique, permanent identification number assigned to each book. > It appears on the cover in the form of a barcode, and comprises 13 characters. > > WHOISBN? lets you scan this barcode to find out who owns the publishing house > of the book you're holding, who owns the company that controls the business, > and so on, down to the ultimate beneficiary at the end of the chain. > > WHOISBN? then assigns a grade between A and F to this owner, according to its > size in the publishing market, and its political orientation. > > WHOISBN? is currently limited to the French segments of ISBNs assigned by > AFNIL (978-2/979-10). Extensions are planned for other ISBN zones. > > - > > Why? > > The French publishing world is highly concentrated. Today, after decades of > acquisitions and takeovers, 90% of the market is dominated by 5 publishing > conglomerates, headed by 5 billionaires. Statistically, in 90% of cases, > buying a book means strengthening the empires of Vincent Bolloré (Hachette), > Daniel Křetínský (CMI/Editis), Bernard Arnault (LVMH, Madrigall), Francis > Esménard (Albin Michel) or the Michelin-Montagne family (Média > Participations), whose omnipresence steers public opinion. The rest of the > market is a constellation of independent publishers. The situation is > relatively similar in other countries, such as Germany, Brazil, Canada, Great > Britain or the United States, to name a few. > > WHOISBN? aims to inform readers about whether or not a publisher belongs to a > major publishing conglomerate - and the political orientation of its owner—so > that they can take these criteria into account when buying a book (or not). > In this way, the application contributes to the boycott of major groups, and > to resisting the extreme right-wingization of public debate. > > - > > STOP Bolloré and co. > > WHOISBN? aims to join forces with a series of initiatives aimed at reducing > the oligopolistic power of the major media groups, and the grip of the > extreme right on the media field : Stop Bolloré > [https://actualitte.com/article/104761/tribunes/stopbollore-la-tradition-democratique-est-aujourd-hui-menacee], > Désarmer Bolloré & Désarmer Stérin [https://desarmerbollore.net/], Déborder > Bolloré [https://deborderbollore.fr/], the recent mapping of the French > publishers 'Edition Française, qui possède quoi?' [Agone, 2025 > https://agone.org/livre/edition-francaise-qui-possede-quoi/]. > > WHOISBN? also draws on earlier writings and researches on the oligopolistic > nature of the media [S. Halimi, les nouveaux chiens de garde, 1997 - > https://www.raisonsdagir-editions.org/catalogue/les-nouveaux-chiens-de-garde-2/ > ; Médias français, qui possède quoi? Le Monde diplomatique, 2007 - > https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/cartes/PPA ; Bureau d'études, Gouvernement > des médias, 2015 - > https://bureaudetudes.org/category/gouvernement-des-medias/ ; Josh On, They > Rule, 2001 - https://theyrule.net/ ; etc.]. > > - > > Install the application > > WHOISBN? can be downloaded here: https://whoisbn.net > > Latest version: 1.0.1, May 8, 2025 at 14:00; developed for the French ISBN > zone (AFNIL register, 978-2/979-10). To extend it to other zones, please > contact us. > > WHOISBN? runs on Android and can only be installed via this website. We > refuse to use Google App Store. It will eventually be downloadable from > F-Droid. Updates are not automatic, so please check the website regularly to > download the latest version. > > - > > Data and sources > > WHOISBN?is open source and FLOSS, and the source code will soon be available > on our Git [https://git.rybn.org/users/rybn/projects]. > > WHOISBN? is based on the database “La carte des médias, qui possède quoi?” > initiated by Le Monde diplomatique, which we have extended to the French > publishing world [https://github.com/mdiplo/Medias_francais]. > > The data comes from AFNIL, the agency in charge of the ISBN allocation for > the French publishers ; Nudger, an international database of already > attributed ISBNs ; and the SNE database. > > > > -- > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: https://www.nettime.org > # contact: [email protected] -- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: https://www.nettime.org # contact: [email protected]
