Tech Policy Podcast

Liza Goitein, an expert on the FISA Section 702 surveillance program, discusses its controversial nature, the need for reform, and the Fourth Amendment's relevance. The podcast explores the controversy surrounding US person queries, the ethical implications of using government-collected data, options for warrantless surveillance, and the upcoming expiration of Section 702.

TechFreedom’s Ari Cohn and Corbin Barthold discuss whether AI is going to spark an “infocalypse,” bring about the “collapse of reality,” and destroy our elections. Is AI about to “flood” our “screens” with “misinformation” that’s “dangerous to democracy”? Notwithstanding these quotes from recent press stories, the answer is probably no.Ari’s Senate testimonyWhat the Doomsayers Get Wrong About DeepfakesScott Brennen + Matt Perault paperTech Policy Podcast #358: Information Animals Fighting Information WarsTech Policy Podcast #359: Your Right to Lie — With Jeff Kosseff

From February 16, 2021 (Episode 284): Martin Gurri (Mercatus Center) discusses his book The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium.The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New MillenniumReality Comes Knocking

From March 2, 2022 (Episode 313): Robert Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation) discusses the leftwing push to turn broadband into a heavily regulated utility.Anticorporate Broadband Populists’ Real Agenda: Destroy the Current Private-Sector SystemFCC Revives Common Carriage for the InternetZombie FCC vs. Schoolhouse-Rock Supreme CourtA Thankfully Doomed MistakeThe Elephant in the Ethernet Port

Blake Reid (Colorado Law) and Berin Szóka (TechFreedom) join the show to discuss the constitutional and policy implications of applying common carrier rules at different layers of the “tech stack.” Should broadband providers be forced to carry content? Should social media platforms? How about both? Or neither? Maybe the former, but not the latter? How about the latter, but not the former? . . . Wait, stop. That last one is nonsense. Tune in to find out why.The Greatest Internet Law Chart EverUncommon Carriage The Conservative Bias Panic Comes for Gmail’s Spam DetectionThe Republican Project to Break Your Email AccountUS Telecom (D.C. Cir. 2017)Carlin Communications (9th Cir. 1987)

Brian Frye (Kentucky Law) joins the show to say bananas stuff about artificial intelligence, the history of authorship, the economics of copyright, why we’re all misunderstanding plagiarism, the mysteries of free will, and more.Apologia Pro Plagio SuoShould Using an AI Text Generator to Produce Academic Writing Be Plagiarism?Plagiarize This PaperHow About Using AI To Determine Whether Or Not Something Is Creative Enough To Get Copyright ProtectionAI and the Nature of Literary Creativity

Host Corbin Barthold discusses the campaign by states like Arkansas, Texas, and Utah to age-gate the Internet. As Corbin explains, these states are taking aim at a number of recent Supreme Court decisions, including Reno v. ACLU (1997), Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004), Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011), and even (!?) 303 Creative v. Elenis (2023).Corbin on the importance of Reno v. ACLUPaul Matzko on the notorious “fairness doctrine”Scholarly criticism of the “scarcity rationale”Corbin on Texas’s H.B. 1181FedSoc event on age-verification lawsCandeub, Morell, and Toscano in defense of age-verification lawsMore from Candeub, Morell, and ToscanoMore from Candeub

Jeff Kosseff (Naval Academy) joins the show to discuss his new book Liar in a Crowded Theater, a defense of your First Amendment right to speak falsely (sometimes!).Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of MisinformationThe Twenty-Six Words That Created the InternetThe United States of Anonymous: How the First Amendment Shaped Online SpeechTech Policy Podcast #350: When the Government Yells at Social Media

Alicia Wanless (Carnegie Endowment) joins the show to discuss the links between information and technology, information competition through history, the need for a better understanding of information ecosystems, whether we’re in an information “civil war,” and much else besides.There Is No Getting Ahead of Disinformation Without Moving Past ItThe Astor Place Riot

Geoff Manne, president and founder of the International Center for Law & Economics, and host Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, discuss the FTC’s lawsuit against Amazon.FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Mission to Destroy Amazon Will Harm Millions of ConsumersFTC v Amazon: Significant Burdens to Prove Relevant Markets and Net Consumer HarmTech Policy Podcast #353: The Google Search Antitrust Trial