When I go to that URL on a stock, direct FF install, I still see that notice.

My Hero isn’t actually Irish, but it does star Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Dougal) for almost its entire run, so it may scratch the itch.

Yep, it’s probably easier to get an Android device and install readers on it than to try for a prepackaged FOSS reader.

I use several apps on my Android phone, but mostly Kindle (for Kindle, duh), PDF Reader (for PDFs, duh again), and Lithium (mostly for EPUB but pretty much everything else, too). I get most of my e-books as DRM-free EPUBs and PDFs.

Yes, refuse to federate from the get-go. By the time the hostilities become open, it’ll be far too late not only to attempt to repair any existing damage, but even to avoid further damage coming down the line like a juggernaut.

Plenty of large corporations have shown time and again that SOP is to take over and kill any potential threats before they can develop. When a corporation finds another corporation using their resources for gain, even while still following terms and conditions, the lawyers come out and the fur flies. Why should we be pushovers just because we’re not rich and don’t have a legal fiction to hide behind?

The Fediverse is a direct competitor to monolithic social networks. That’s definitely how they see us, and it’s how we should see them. I know that there’s a “share and share alike” ethos behind all of this, and that blocking any entity arbitrarily feels wrong and unfair, but it really isn’t. I also know that, assuming that things go well, one day there will be successful business ventures that evolve naturally from the Fediverse, and the community is going to have to decide how to respond to those situations in time. But right now we’re a group of little pigs playing in a somewhat secure pen, and a huge, voracious wolf is asking us to open the gate so it can join in our game. By the time we realize that we haven’t seen Jerry or Louise for a while, the wolf will have changed the lock on the gate and spread rumors about us to the other animals.

If people still feel uncomfortable with refusing a large corporation “just because”, then make a policy: “Due to the dangers inherent in unequal business relationships, it is our general policy to refuse federation with any entity with an average annual turnover in excess of US$200,000.” You can always make exceptions, and even change the policy later, but it can ease your conscience that you aren’t unfairly targeting one entity without justification; you’re sticking to a sensible policy.

Well, I don’t work for Threads or Meta, and I don’t know anything about their short-term or long-term plans. But let’s imagine a theoretical, commercially-operated social web service called “HeartStrings”, which acts in bad faith:

• HeartStrings uses their significant marketing ability and existing user base to become a dominant entity in the Fediverse. Simultaneously, they downplay or even hide the fact that a lot of their initial content comes from the Fediverse. This isn’t difficult as their traditional target audience probably won’t know about the Fediverse or even be able to understand the concepts behind it without significant explanation, which they are unlikely to pursue on their own.
• HeartStrings implements extra services for their users which only work on HeartStrings (karma, useful built-in bots and moderation tools, regular prize giveaways, “preferential” positioning of posts from HeartStrings, their own spin on “hot” or other post sorting options)
• They create local “backups” of posts from other instances (a.k.a. scraped content), “for the convenience of HeartStrings users” and, initially, also as “a service to the Fediverse.”
• Once they have sufficient users and content, they begin blocking posts both to and from certain other instances (probably not actually defederating, but handling everything silently, internally). When someone finally notices this systematic censorship, HeartStrings provides vague justifications involving “misinformation” and “illegal activities”.
• Because this creates minimal backlash from core HeartStrings users, the company works faster and faster toward their end goal of completely removing ActivityPub support while simultaneously implying that the Fediverse came to HeartStrings (rather than the other way around), was given a fair chance by HeartStrings, but turns out to be filled with terrorists, drug sellers, pedophiles, and other bad actors. With no central body to defend it effectively against such a well-financed aggressor, the Fediverse takes this virtually without responding.
• Result: HeartStrings has sucked what free material and promotion it could from the Fediverse during its critical launch phase, then sabotaged the Fediverse, and finally kicked it to the curb.