Category: reason

Our interview is with Kevin Roose, author of Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation. Kevin debunks most of the comforting stories we use to anaesthetize ourselves to the danger that artificial intelligence and digitization pose to our jobs. Luckily, he also offers some practical and very personal ideas for how to avoid being caught in the oncoming robot apocalypse.

 In the news roundup, Dmitri Alperovich and I take a few moments to honor Dan Kaminsky, an extraordinary internet security and even more extraordinarily decent man. He died too young, at 42, as Nicole Perlroth demonstrates in one of her career-best articles. 

 Maury Shenk and Mark MacCarthy lay out the EU’s plan to charge Apple with anti-competitive behaviour in running its app store. Under regulation-friendly EU competition law, rather than the more austere US version, it sure looks as though Apple is going to have trouble escaping unscathed. 

 Mark and I duke it out over Gov. DeSantis’s Florida bill on content moderation reform. We agree that it will be challenged as a violation of the First Amendment and as preempted by federal section 230. Mark thinks it will fail that test. I don’t, especially if the challenge ends up in the Supreme Court, where Justice Thomas at least has already put out the “Welcome” mat.  

 Dmitri and I puzzle over the statement by top White House cyber official Anne Neuberger that the US reprisals against Russia are so far not enough to deter further cyberattacks.  We decide it’s a “Kinsley gaffe” – where a top official inadvertently utters an inconvenient truth.

 This Week in Information Operations: Maury explains that China may be hyping America’s racial tensions not as a tactic to divide us but simply because it’s an irresistible comeback to US criticisms or Chinese treatment of ethnic minorities. And Dmitri explains why we shouldn’t be surprised at Russia’s integrated use of hacking and propaganda. The real question is why the US has been so bad at the same work.

 In shorter pieces:

•  Mark covers the slooow rollout of an EU law forcing one-hour takedowns of terrorist content.
•  Dmitri tells us about the evolution of ransomware into full service doxtortion, as sensitive files of the D.C. Police Department are leaked online 
•  Dmitri also notes the inevitability of more mobile phone adtech tracking scandals, such as the compromise of US military operations  
•  Maury and I discuss the extent to which China’s internet giants find themselves competing, not for consumers, but for government favor, as China uses antitrust law to cement its control of the tech sector 
•  Finally, Dmitri and I unpack the latest delay in DOD’s effort to achieve cybersecurity maturity through regulatory-style compliance, an effort Dmitri believes is doomed 

And more!

Download the 360th Episode (mp3) 

 You can subscribe to The Cyberlaw Podcast using iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or our RSS feed. As always, The Cyberlaw Podcast is open to feedback. Be sure to engage with @stewartbaker on Twitter. Send your questions, comments, and suggestions for topics or interviewees to CyberlawPodcast@steptoe.com. Remember: If your suggested guest appears on the show, we will send you a highly coveted Cyberlaw Podcast mug!

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of their institutions, clients, friends, families, or pets.

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President Joe Biden on Monday announced he would move to increase the annual refugee cap set by former President Donald Trump, who had limited admissions to a historically low 15,000 refugees during his time in office.

Biden’s announcement came after he received heavy criticism last month when he revealed he would keep Trump’s cap in place after promising to expand it by more than 300 percent. Today he said he would reverse course again and attempt to meet that earlier promise, although he said it likely wouldn’t happen by September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

“Today, I am revising the United States’ annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year,” he said in a statement. “The sad truth is that we will not achieve [that goal] this year. We are working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years. It will take some time, but that work is already underway. We have reopened the program to new refugees. And by changing the regional allocations last month, we have already increased the number of refugees ready for departure to the United States.”

The president’s April announcement confused many, not least of which because his purported explanation didn’t square with reality. The New York Times reported that his administration cited the influx of unaccompanied migrant children at the border as putting too much of a strain on the refugee system.

“The refugee program and the unaccompanied child program are separate items in the HHS budget,” David Bier, a research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, told me last month. “This is purely about politics.”

Biden has received quite a bit of heat for his policies at the border. As I wrote last month, he’s already broken a campaign promise to halt the confiscation of private property for border wall construction. The Biden administration has also made certain parts of the asylum system even more restrictive than his predecessor and is defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in court after the agency erected a fake university, defrauded immigrants out of the tuition money, and deported them without refunds.

Today, however, it appears Biden is attempting to honor a campaign promise, even if it was the result of public pressure. “President Trump’s decision to close America’s doors to refugees fleeing persecution is cruel and shortsighted,” Biden said in November 2019. “As president, I will restore America’s historic commitment to welcoming those whose lives are threatened by conflict and crisis.”

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This Monday, Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie dish on their least favorite parts of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and the messaging around the newest coronavirus guidelines. Plus, The Reason Roundtable answers a listener question about the ties between self-proclaimed libertarians and people against the coronavirus vaccine.

Discussed in the show:

1:36: Biden’s SOTU address takeaways.

22:34: The government’s newest coronavirus guidelines.

36:56: Weekly Listener Question: The current anti-vax sentiment within a significant portion of the libertarian world has me questioning everything. Weren’t we the folks who, a mere couple of years ago, were saying “Get the FDA out of the way so big pharma can cure things?” That literally happened, and now a significant number of libertarians are kvetching about how quickly the vaccines were developed. How can I have faith in the rationality of libertarianism when there is a significant portion of the movement that is so breathtakingly wrong on vaccines?

48:52: Media recommendations for the week.

This weeks links:

• “Exclusive: Coalition calls on Biden to form disinformation task force,” by Ina Fried
• “Democrats, Here’s How to Lose in 2022. And Deserve It,” by Ezra Klein
• “The Last Pandemic,” by Ronald Bailey

Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today’s sponsors:

• On October 2, 2018, respected Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. He was never seen alive again. From the Academy Award–winning director Bryan Fogel, The Dissident is now streaming on On Demand.
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Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Assistant production by Regan Taylor.
Music: “Angeline,” by The Brothers Steve.

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New York and Florida had famously different responses to the pandemic, the former being especially restrictive, the latter being much more permissive. Today, the governors of both states announced major rollbacks of COVID-19 regulations.

In Florida, Republican Ron DeSantis issued an executive order suspending all local governments’ emergency pandemic orders, including mask mandates.

“I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” he said today at a news conference. “I think folks that are saying they need to be policing people at this point, if you’re saying that, then you’re really saying you don’t believe in the vaccines.”

DeSantis announced his executive order at a signing ceremony for S.B. 2006. That bill ends all local emergency orders by July 1, as well as amending Florida’s laws to make it harder for both states and localities to shut down businesses and schools. The governor’s order is meant to bridge the gap between now and when the bill goes into effect.

These moves effectively move Florida, always one of the looser states in terms of COVID restrictions, back to a pre-pandemic state of affairs, combined with a few new checks on government emergency powers.

The governor’s order frustrated several local officials who had proactively pushed mask mandates. DeSantis has already canceled fines received by individuals and businesses for violating local emergency orders, prompting some counties to stop enforcing theirs entirely.

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that come May 19, New York would be lifting most capacity restrictions, including those on bars and restaurants.

“The tide is turning against COVID-19 in New York, and thanks to our increasing vaccination rates, as well as our successful, data-based regional approach, we’re able to take more steps to reopen our economy, help businesses and workers, and keep moving towards returning to normal” he said.

In New Jersey, another Democratic governor—Phil Murphy—announced that his state would be repealing its business capacity restrictions on May 19 as well.

Both governors’ reopenings come with the proviso that people still need to maintain six feet of distance from each other. Large indoor event venues will be allowed to increase their capacity to 30 percent, up from the current 10 percent. Attendees will also have to show a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination.

The bill signed by DeSantis today prohibits schools, local governments, and businesses from requiring people show proof of vaccination. The governor had issued an executive order also banning these vaccine “passports” last month.

Other states known for restrictive lockdowns have also started to ease up on their pandemic regulations. That includes California, where embattled Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that all capacity restrictions on businesses will be lifted come June 15, provided COVID-19 deaths remain low in the state and there’s enough vaccine supply to meet demand.

Aside from the prohibition on private parties requiring proof of vaccination, these are welcome moves. It’s particularly heartening to see both red and blue states moving in the same direction. It’s a demonstration not just that pandemic regulations are broadly unpopular, but that they are increasingly seen as unnecessary, given the availability of vaccines and the falling number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

That hope that vaccinations would, at last, remove the justification for these emergency public health restrictions is largely being borne out.

This bipartisan reopening does make the restrictions that still exist more grating. In his remarks today, DeSantis noted D.C.’s ban on people standing at indoor weddings. One hopes that as more states lift their pandemic regulations, those rules too will fall by the wayside.

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For nearly two decades, David Lat has been a permanent fixture in our legal culture. First, with Underneath Their Robes, and later with Above the Law, David brought his keen eye to every aspect of the courts, lawyering, and pop culture. I started law school in 2006, and started reading Above the Law in 2007. I loved his posts on law school antics, law firm scandals, and legal developments. At the time, the Big Law was booming. Then, in 2008, I was a summer associate. That was the dreadful period when everything fell apart. David’s inside reporting became something of a bible. We would learn, almost in real time, which firms were conducting “stealth layoffs” or were slashing bonuses. Around the same time, David brought other voices to Above the Law. He even held a realty-show themed contest to pick a new editor.

Over the ensuing decade, regrettably, I read Above the Law less and less. New authors wrote about topics that deviated from ATL’s core. (Present company included). In 2017, David stepped down as Above the Law managing editor. Things well downhill quickly. In recent years, I have found much of Above the Law not worth following. Indeed, there have been several critical pieces about me that I haven’t even bothered to read. Not worth my time. What began as a nerdy, slightly right-of-center site, transformed into an exhausting, woke jeremiad. It made me sad to see this downfall, because I have spent so many years invested in the site.

But now, you can reclaim the glory days of Above the Law. Earlier this year, David launched a new Substack newsletter, Original Jurisdiction. David is the sole editor, and has complete control over the site. And he has brought back the magic of what made UTR and ATL great. There are posts, at least once a week, that break down the business of lawyering. But David also brings levity and nerdy stuff to make me chuckle. He is also breaking news, with his deep cadre of sources. You will learn things from David which you cannot find anywhere else.

Substack is a unique model. It allows authors to charge a modest sum to deliver content. In exchange, readers get a clean, ad-free experience. I just signed up for an annual plan of $50/year. Or you can pay $5 per month. I encourage you to subscribe today. It is important to support voices like David in the dwindling legal blogosphere.

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