I downloaded the Amazon app a while back. The first message that popped up with a “join prime” screen. I very nearly tapped the join button because it was the only button on the screen and I wasn’t paying attention - I had to scroll to find the “maybe later” button. They seem to love their hostile UI.
Each instance only needs to hold the data from communities its users are subscribed to. And images live on their host instances anyway. No instance needs to hold the entirety of Lemmy. :)
I don’t like the article’s use of the word “snares” - it’s not as if it’s a trap they’re being sneaky about. There are signs everywhere, there’s painting on the road, there’s continual press coverage, and there are wide and well-signposted turning areas for private cars on either side of the bus gate. Anyone who gets “snared” by this is clearly driving while not paying attention, and deserves more than a fine IMHO.
OSM is perfect for this. If you want a wider range of prompts, and you have an Android device, you can use streetcomplete.app - it turns every missing data point into a “quest” and gamifies it. It’s really addictive when you get into it. :)
Music piracy is doing just fine, it’s just that the balance of opinion seems to be that M4A is fine. You can even download M4A files from YouTube nowadays.
There are plenty of ping tools available. If you’re on Android, you might be interested in Termux (F-Droid, Play), that lets you have a Linux commandline right on your phone. I personally use Net Analyzer (Play) too but there are plenty out there.