The Volokh Conspiracy
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Tech World Turned Upside Down Down Under
Episode 243 of the Cyberlaw Podcast
In the News Roundup, Nick Weaver and I offer very different assessments of Australia's controversial encryption bill. Nick's side of the argument is bolstered by special guest Denise Howell, the original legal podcaster, with 445 weekly episodes of This Week in Law to her credit.
Later in the program, I interview Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), who's been a force for cybersecurity both on the Homeland Security Committee and on the Armed Services subcommittee that oversees Cyber Command and DARPA – a subcommittee that insiders expect him to be chairing in the next Congress.
Turning back to news, the Marriott hack, already one of the biggest in history, has developed a new and more interesting angle, Gus Hurwitz explains: It may have been a Chinese intelligence operation.
The Khashoggi killing has backfired on… Israeli and Italian hacking companies? Yes, indeed. Hacking Team and NSO are now immersed in legal hot water. And as a sign of how much the Middle East has changed, Nate Jones tells us that a Saudi dissident is now waging lawfare in the courts of Tel Aviv.
We also touch on what the detention in Canada of Huawei's CFO means for US-China technology relations as well as on a new DOD report on the risks of EMP. Nick explains why he doesn't worry about EMP but nonetheless loves the EMP alarmists.
Download the 243rd Episode (mp3).
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Assessments which will be treated as equally valid despite Nick Weaver having an extensive background in the field and Stewart Baker having no background in it at all.
This quote from the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, is just about the only thing you need to know about this issue:
"The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia."
When you have to say something that monumentally stupid to support your law, it's pretty clear you are wrong.
Encryption is math. Period. Outlawing strong encryption is even more ridiculous than outlawing guns, because ANYONE can implement unbreakable strong encryption.
It's MATH.
One time pads don't even take much math 🙂
OTPs are pretty inconvenient for soccer moms trying to do online banking, but for the worst cases - Al Qaeda trying to coordinate 9-11 or drug lords or whatever the inconvenience isn't a showstopper.
It would be wonderful to have a more expansive synopsis of these podcasts.
(Some of us, at least, don't listen to podcasts. (Reading is so much faster!))
Heck, even an error-laden transcript would be nice.
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