We open the episode with David Kris’s thoughts on the two-years-late CFIUS investigation of TikTok, its Chinese owner, ByteDance, and ByteDance’s US acquisition of the lip-syncing company Musical.ly. Our best guess is that this unprecedented reach-back investigation will end in a more or less precedented mitigation agreement.
Tag Archives: CFIUS
Episode 280: Challenging Edward Snowden
Posted in InternationalIn this episode I cross swords with John Samples of the Cato Institute on Silicon Valley’s efforts to disadvantage conservative speech and what to do about it. I accuse him of Panglossian libertarianism; he challenges me to identify any way in which bringing government into the dispute will make things better. I say government… Continue Reading
Episode 270: China’s cyber offense comes of age
Posted in CFIUS, Cloud Computing, International, Security Programs & PoliciesThe theme this week is China’s growing confidence in using cyberweapons in new and sophisticated ways, as the US struggles to find an answer to China’s growing ambition to dominate technology. Our interview guest, Chris Bing of Reuters, talks about his deep dive story on Chinese penetration of managed service providers like HP Enterprise… Continue Reading
Episode 259: Why France understands Chinese policy better than the rest of us
Posted in AI, CFIUS, China, Cloud Computing, European Union, International, RussiaOur News Roundup is hip deep in China stories. The inconclusive EU – China summit gives Matthew Heiman and me a chance to explain why France understands – and hates – China’s geopolitical trade strategy more than most. Maury Shenk notes that the Pentagon’s reported plan to put a bunch of Chinese suppliers on… Continue Reading
Episode 258: The death of Section 230
Posted in CFIUS, China, International, RussiaOur News Roundup leads with the long, slow death of Section 230 immunity. Nick Weaver explains why he thinks social media’s pursuit of engagement has led to a poisonous online environment, and Matthew Heiman replays the astonishing international consensus that Silicon Valley deserves the blame – and the regulation – for all that ails… Continue Reading
Episode 257: How we know the North Korean Embassy break-in wasn’t the work of the CIA
Posted in Data Breach, International, Privacy RegulationIn today’s News Roundup, Klon Kitchen adds to the North Korean Embassy invasion by an unknown group. Turns out some of the participants fled to the US and lawyered up, but the real tipoff about attribution is that they’ve given some of the data they stole to the FBI. That rules out CIA involvement… Continue Reading
Episode 251: Executive Orders and alien abductions
Posted in AI, CFIUS, China, European Union, International, RussiaThe backlash against Big Tech dominates the episode, with new regulatory initiatives in the US, 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… Continue Reading
Episode 239: The Ministry of Silly Talk
Posted in CFIUS, China, International, Security Programs & PoliciesToday’s interview is a deep (and long – over an hour) dive into new investment review regulations for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It’s excerpted from an ABA panel discussion on the topic, featuring: Tom Feddo, who currently oversees CFIUS; Aimen Mir, who used to oversee CFIUS; Sanchi Jayaram,… Continue Reading
Episode 235: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s … Doug?
Posted in CFIUS, China, European Union, Government Contracts, International, Security Programs & PoliciesToday we interview Doug, the chief legal officer of GCHQ, the British equivalent of NSA. It’s the first time we’ve interviewed someone whose full identify is classified. Out of millions of possible pseudonyms, he’s sticking with “Doug.” Listen in as he explains why. More seriously, Doug covers the now-considerable oversight regime that governs GCHQ’s intercepts… Continue Reading
Changes Afoot for CFIUS and US Export Controls as the Dust Settles on FIRRMA
Posted in CFIUSAfter months of hearings and other deliberations, Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law on August 13, 2018, the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA). FIRRMA marks the first update to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in over a decade and will considerably expand the jurisdiction… Continue Reading
Episode 228: Best idea yet for derailing the Kavanaugh nomination
Posted in CFIUS, China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, European Union, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesOur guest for the interview is Noah Phillips, recently appointed FTC Commissioner and former colleague of Stewart Baker at Steptoe. Noah fields questions about the European Union, privacy, and LabMD, about whether Silicon Valley suppression of conservative speech should be a competition law issue, about how foreign governments’ abuse of merger approvals can be disciplined,… Continue Reading
Episode 226: Where are all my Twitter followers?
Posted in CFIUS, China, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Privacy Regulation, RussiaIn Episode 226 of The Cyberlaw Podcast, Stewart departs for the wilderness, and the News Roundup team (Brian Egan with Matthew Heiman, Jim Lewis, and Dr. Megan Reiss) muddles through without him.
The Cyberlaw Podcast — Interview with Megan Stifel
Posted in China, European Union, International, Privacy Regulation, RussiaEpisode 222: In which I get to play that guy in line for the movie with Woody Allen Our interview is with Megan Stifel, whose paper for Public Knowledge offers a new way of thinking about cybersecurity measures, drawing by analogy on the relative success of sustainability initiatives in spurring environmental consciousness. She holds up… Continue Reading
The Cyberlaw Podcast — Interview with Miles Brundage and Shahar Avin
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, European UnionEpisode 206: The threat of evil AI from outer space – or maybe a lot closer to home Our interview features an excellent and mostly grounded exploration of how artificial intelligence could become a threat as a result of the cybersecurity arms race. Maury Shenk does much of the interviewing in London. He talks to Miles Brundage,… Continue Reading
CFIUS Reform: A Primer on the Key Changes Under Consideration
Posted in InternationalKey committees in the Senate and House have concluded initial hearings on the bill to reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 (FIRRMA). FIRRMA was introduced in the Senate and House by Senator Cornyn and Representative Pittenger with bipartisan cosponsors on November… Continue Reading
Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast – Interview with Glenn Gerstell
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, Data Breach, International, Privacy Regulation, Security Programs & PoliciesWhat is the most surprising discovery a law firm partner makes when he jumps to the National Security Agency? I direct that and other questions at Glenn Gerstell, who has just finished six months in the job as General Counsel at the National Security Agency. In the news roundup, we begin, of course, with the… Continue Reading
Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast – Interview with Elana Broitman and Shawn Cooley
Posted in Cybersecurity and Cyberwar, International, Security Programs & PoliciesWe begin the podcast with This week in NSA, but how long that feature will survive is in doubt. Because what’s most newsworthy this week is that there was practically no news about NSA. Or at least no new scandal stories. The principal new release came from the US government and consisted of a FISA… Continue Reading