The Cyberlaw Podcast: A McLaughlin Group for Cybersecurity

Our interview guests are Dick Clarke and Rob Knake, who have just finished their second joint book on cybersecurity, The Fifth Domain. We talk about what they got right and wrong in their original book. There are surprising flashes of optimism from Clarke and Knake about the state of cybersecurity, and the book itself is an up-to-date survey of the policy environment. Best of all, they have the courage to propose actual policy solutions to problems that many others just admire. I disagree with about half of their proposals, so much light and some heat are shed in the interview, which I end by bringing back the McLaughlin Group tradition of rapid-fire questions and an opinionated “you’re wrong” whenever the moderator disagrees. C’mon, you know the arguments are really why you listen, so enjoy this one!

In the news roundup, Gus Hurwitz covers the Supreme Court’s ruling on when a forum is subject to First Amendment limits. Short version: There is no Justice who thinks Silicon Valley’s platforms are public fora subject to the First Amendment. Sen. Hawley (R.-Mo.) is mocked, which prompts me to invite him to defend himself on a future episode (not because the First Amendment applies to the podcast but because it would be fun).

Matthew Heiman spells out the thinking behind Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency. He thinks it’s all about the data; I think it’s all about WeChat. Whatever the motive, every regulatory body in Europe and the U.S. has descended on the company to extract concessions—or perhaps to kill it outright, as our own Nick Weaver has proposed.

Maury Shenk reports on the U.S. government’s threat to limit Indian H-1B visas if India persists in its extreme data localization policies. I suggest that the fight may be as much about terrorism finance as protectionism.

This week behind the Silicon Curtain: Apple is considering moving 15-30% of its production capacity out of China. Matthew and I agree that it’s easier said than done, but that the move is inevitable.

Gus lays out the difficulties that YouTube has had meeting the child protection requirements of the Child Online Privacy Protection Rule and the Federal Trade Commission’s growing interest in changing YouTube’s approach to videos aimed at kids.

Is China’s social credit rating system a Potemkin village? Bloomberg seems to think so, but Maury has his doubts. So, if you thought you could stop fearing the system and start laughing at it, better think again.

Finally, this week in karma: The medical billing firm whose cybersecurity failings resulted in multiple medical data breaches has filed for bankruptcy, evidently the result of liabilities arising from the breach.