Supply chain illuminati

Episode 272 of the Cyberlaw Podcast

What is the federal government doing to "illuminate" its supply chain and then excise compromised hardware and software? That's what we ask Harvey Rishikof, coauthor of "Deliver Uncompromised," and Joyce Corell, who heads the Supply Chain and Cyber Directorate at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. There's no doubt the problem is being admired to a fare-thee-well, and some evidence it's also being addressed. Listen and decide!

In the News Roundup, Nate Jones and I disagree about the Second Circuit ruling that President Trump can't block his critics on Twitter. We don't disagree about that ruling, but I'm a lot more skeptical than Nate that it will be applied to that other famous Washington tweeter, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

GDPR still sucks, but now it bites, too. Matthew Heiman explains just how bad the bite was for Marriott and British Airways.

Gus Hurwitz reprises how much – or little – we know about the FTC and Facebook. We won't know much, he says, until we answer the question, "Where's the complaint?"

Talk about hard supply chain issues. Congress banned Chinese surveillance cameras from the federal supply chain by law.  But passing a law turns out to be a lot different from actually, you know, getting rid of them.

For a change of pace, Gus and I rag on the US Patent and Trademark Office for its petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn a Fourth Circuit ruling that adding ".com" to a generic term makes it trademarkable. You tell 'em, USPTO! It's not like adding ".com" to a word has the same creativity and distinctiveness as adding "i" in front of "phone" or "pod."

Nate and I spar over whether Section 301 can be used to retaliate against France for its 3% digital tax.

Matthew tells us that the Trump Administration isn't sharing details on classified cyberattack rules with Congress, and after a modicum of mockery, we actually find ourselves agreeing with Congress's demand to be briefed on the rules.

Finally, in quick hits, I flag the hypocrisy of social justice campaigners who love the idea of privacy until it gets in the way of doxxing people they disagree with—plus the surprising ways that GDPR has enabled personal data breaches on an industrial scale.

Download the 272nd 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 [e-mail]. 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 the firm.