The Cyberlaw Podcast

 

In our twenty-first episode of the Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast, Stewart Baker, Maury Schenk, Michael Vatis, and Jason Weinstein discuss this week in NSA: The House passage of the USA Freedom bill; LabMD goes to trial; China lashes back over the Justice Department's indictment of PLA members; Apple loses a preliminary fight over its liability for the privacy practices of third party apps; the Blackshades indictments; the mild treatment given to the Anonymous hacker, Sabu; and California's Attorney General's guidance on how to comply with California's latest privacy law. In our second half, we have an interview with Peter Schaar, a proponent of the right to be forgotten and an eminent former data protection chief. From 2003 to 2013, Peter was the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. He is currently Chairman of the European Academy for Freedom of Information and Data Protection (EAID) and a guest lecturer at the University of Hamburg.
Direct download: Podcast_21.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:13am EDT

In our twentieth episode of the Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast, Stewart Baker, Stephanie Roy, and Michael Vatis discuss Breaking News: American counterattack on Chinese cyberspying - the indictment of several PLA members for breaking into US computers to steal commercial information; this week in NSA: It turns out that telcos did challenge the 215 program; Glenn Greenwald's book claims that NSA considers Israel the most effective at spying on the US after China and Russia; Greenwald also says that NSA modifies equipment after it's been sold to make hacking easier; and Greenwald's book has now been leaked to Bittorrent; it looks as though LabMD is down to one lawsuit; the Justice Department released a statement that some kinds of information sharing don't violate the antitrust laws. Now it's put out a white paper saying that ISPs can release aggregate information about cybersecurity without violating the Stored Communications Act's prohibition on releasing customer information; net neutrality and the difference between Title II and section 706 as a basis for net neutrality; and the European Court of Justice's embrace of the "right to be forgotten" In our second half, we have an interview with Shane Harris, senior writer at Foreign Policy magazine, where he covers national security, intelligence, and cyber security. Shane's book, The Watchers, offered thoughtful insights into the rise of surveillance in America.

Direct download: podcast20.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:30pm EDT

Stewart Baker and Michael Vatis discuss this week in NSA: Al-Jazeera gets an exclusive on e-mails where google execs turn down NSA invitations and talk briefly about online security threats; the State Department's Coordinator for Cyber Issues; Oracle wins a Federal Circuit victory over Google, establishing that APIs can be copyrighted; New York State issues a short report on bank cybersecurity practices and promises to start asking banks about these practices in inspections; in other litigation, LabMD claims a victory over the FTC, and we interview LabMD's CEO, Michael Daugherty; the ACLU argues that criminal defendants who are acquitted should have no more privacy rights than those who are convicted; Zynga and Facebook get a reprieve from the Court of Appeals, but can face lawsuits under state law for breach of contract; and Snapchat finds itself exposed at the FTC. In our second half, we have an interview with Chris Painter, the State Department's Coordinator for Cyber Issues. Chris discusses norms in cyberconflict, MLAT reform, Brazil's recent Net Mundial conference, and much more.

Direct download: Podcast19.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:20am EDT

In our eighteenth episode of the Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast, Stewart Baker and Michael Vatis discuss this week in NSA: The internal NSA briefing memo surmising that GCHQ probably hoped to expand its access to PRISM data; Microsoft loses a big case before a magistrate in SDNY, who rules that the government can enforce warrants requiring Microsoft to produce data stored abroad; The Supreme Court hears oral argument over cell phone searches incident to arrest; The White House has released a couple of reports on Big Data—one from the PCAST and one from John Podesta's group—along with several recommendations; The White House also released guidance on when NSA will exploit cybersecurity flaws and when it will try to fix them; GCHQ's own independent monitor has released a long and favorable report; and data breaches claim their first CEO, as Target makes room at the top. In our second half, we have an interview with Brian Krebs, the noted security researcher behind Krebs on Security. Brian comments on the week's news before giving us an interview on the latest in Russian cybercrime.

Direct download: Episode18.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:16pm EDT

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