Executive Orders and Alien Abductions

The backlash against Big Tech dominates this episode, with new regulatory initiatives in the U.S., EU, Israel, Russia and China. The misbegotten link tax and upload filter provisions of the EU copyright directive have survived the convoluted EU legislative gantlet. My prediction: The link tax will fail because Google wants it to fail, but the upload filter will succeed because Google wants YouTube’s competitors to fail.

Rumors are flying that the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook will agree on a $1+ billion fine on the company for failure to adhere to its consent decree. My guess? This is not so much about law as it is about the climate of hostility around the company since it took the blame for Trump’s election.

And, in yet another attack on Big Tech, the EU is targeting Google and Amazon for unfair practices as sales platforms.

Artificial intelligence is so overworked a tech theme that it has even attracted the attention of the White House and the Defense Department. We ask a new contributor, Jessica “Zhanna” Malekos Smith, to walk us through the president’s executive order on artificial intelligence. I complain that it’s a cookie-cutter order that could as easily be applied to alien abductions. The Pentagon’s AI strategy, in contrast, is somewhat more substantive.

If you can’t beat ‘em, ban ‘em. Instead of regulating Big Tech, Russia is looking to take its own internet offline in an emergency. The real question is whether Russia is planning to cause the emergency it’s protecting itself against. If so, we are profoundly unready.

The CFIUS model is contagious! Brian Egan tells us Israel is considering restrictions on Chinese investment as the world keeps choosing sides in the new cold war.

China’s Ministry of Public Security is now authorized to conduct no-notice penetration testing of internet businesses operating in China. I must say, it was nice of them to offer the service in beta to the Office of Personnel Management, Anthem and Equifax. Speaking of which, could this spell more trouble for Western firms doing business in China?

Brian touches on the Treasury Department’s new sanctions against Iranian organizations for supporting intelligence and cyber operations targeting U.S. persons. It turns out that the hackers had help—and that there is no ideology so loathsome it can’t win converts among Americans.

Nate Jones describes the EU’s plan to use “cyber sanctions” to fend off hackers during upcoming elections.

This Week in Old Guys You Shouldn’t Mess With: Nate reveals how 94-year-old William H. Webster helped take down a Jamaican scam artist.

Our colleagues Nate Jones and David Kris have launched the Culper Partners Rule of Law Series. Be sure to listen as episodes are released through Lawfare.

Do you have policy ideas for how to improve cybercrime enforcement? Our friends at Third Way and the Journal of National Security Law & Policy are accepting proposals for their upcoming Cyber Enforcement Symposium. You can find the call for papers here.

Download the 251st Episode (mp3).

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The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of the firm.