Code & Conduit Podcast by Bloomberg BNA

Senators, industry and interest groups continue their negotiations over that chamber’s self-driving car bill AV START (S. 1885). Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), one of the co-authors of the legislation, returned in August from a five-day motorcycle tour of Michigan where he had long stretches of road to think about how autonomous technology should be deployed. We recently sat down with Senator Peters in his Washington office where we talked about his love of motorcycles: “My view is, if I have to go from Point A to Point B, why not do that on a motorcycle?” And how riding influenced his approach to writing the AV START legislation. Peters and his co-author Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune are working to push the bill through the Senate before year’s end, which Peters thinks will result in a safer testing environment. “You can still put vehicles on the road right now without any kind of regulation or oversight,” he said. His bill “will allow the testing to go through in a safer manner than it is now,” Peters said in a sit-down interview for our Code and Conduit podcast.

New tech innovations usually spur a wave of companies competing to win patents for their inventions. But with budding blockchain technology, the decision to patent isn’t always easy. Blockchain was first created as the underpinning technology to crypocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, which use code that is free and open to anyone. Many blockchain developers still embrace this open source ethos and resist their companies’ attempts to patent their work, Ropes & Gray LLP Intellectual property litigation partner Leslie Spencer and attorney Marta Belcher told Bloomberg Law in a recent podcast episode of Code & Conduit.

In a special fintech episode of Code and Conduit, we chat with Eugene Ludwig, former Comptroller of the Currency during President Bill Clinton’s administration and now CEO of Promontory Financial Services Group, a sought-after financial regulatory advisory company. Ludwig discusses his views on why allowing fintechs to become more like banks benefits the financial system and how to boost lending and economic opportunity for low- and middle-income Americans.

America’s information security workforce faces a massive gender gap, and it hasn’t improved much in recent years. It’s a longstanding issue. Women composed 10 percent of the cybersecurity profession in 2013, and the number rose to just 14 percent in 2017. That’s according to the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, a white paper by Frost & Sullivan that compiled data from more than 19,000 respondents in 170 countries. For this episode of Code & Conduit, Joyce Brocaglia, founder of the Executive Women’s Forum, which contributed to the report, and chief executive officer of Alta Associates, joined the podcast via phone. Tyrone Wilson, founder of Cover6Solutions, a veteran and minority-owned small business, and organizer of the D.C. Cyber Security Professionals meet-up, which brings together about 5,000 cybersecurity professionals each year, joined host Kyle LaHucik in the studio.

The chief House proponent of getting self-driving cars on U.S. roads says Congress must pass a self-driving car law this year. The House, Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, told a recent episode of Code & Conduit, spent a lot of time working on H. 3388, his bill directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to set up a regulatory framework for testing self-driving cars and ensuring they’re safe.

Privacy and data security enforcement likely will be a top priority for Illinois’ attorney general, according to the two candidates running for the office. Kwame Raoul (D) and Erika Harold (R) are battling it out to replace current AG Lisa Madigan (D), whose term ends this year after a 16-year run. And they told Bloomberg Law legal editor Dan Stoller that they plan to continue the state’s focus on data security issues. Madigan’s record of investigating and fining companies for data breaches and mishandling consumer information has helped make the state a national leader on privacy issues, Stoller said in a recent episode of Code & Conduit.

Bloomberg Law Senior Legal Editor Eleanor Tyler talks to Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance about FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's recent decision to deal a major setback to a proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger.

Blockchain could turn out to be an ally—or trouble—for copyright holders. The underpinnings of the developing technology, which acts like an inerasable, chronological database of transactions, appear to be at odds with a 20 year-old law that protects copyright holders from infringement. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) allows copyright holders to seek removal of infringing content and protects publishers and internet service providers from liability if they remove such content after being notified. But if the infringing content is posted on a blockchain, it would be difficult or impossible to erase, Bloomberg Law reporter Alexis Kramer said in a recent podcast episode of Code & Conduit.

Blockchain tech might be poised to revolutionize how companies like Bank of America operate and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin trade. But inventors trying to patent their ideas in the field—and stake their claim on future profits—are facing hurdles at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

When the patent infringement claims get tough, inventors are turning to teardowns. Federal courts have raised the bar for the evidence needed to file a patent infringement case in recent years. This has led inventors to increasingly disassembling physical bits of their competitors’ products or software code to see if others’ technology is infringing on their patents, Malathi Nayak, Bloomberg Law intellectual property reporter said.

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is strategizing on how to face an ever-evolving regulatory landscape. Kraken CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell told Bloomberg Law April 6 the exchange—one of the largest in the world—was ready for increased scrutiny and expecting regulation this year. Powell said Kraken also believes in self-regulation and has tried to create several industry-led regulatory groups. But Kraken, legally known as Payward, Inc, and other virtual currency exchanges have come under state and federal regulators’ scrutiny in recent weeks. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched April 17 an inquiry into Kraken and 12 other virtual currency exchanges, asking for more information about their operations and policies. On April 18 Powell indicated on Twitter that the company did not plan to comply with the official’s request. “Ordinarily we’re happy to help government understand our business, however, this is not the way to go about it,” Powell wrote, adding that the company discontinued operating in New York three years ago because of the state’s increased regulatory regime for virtual currency.

It may be too early to regulate the robots. But the U.S. government needs to play a big part in the rollout of artificial intelligence to make sure it benefits society, Dean Garfield, president and CEO of ITI told Bloomberg Law. "Whether you call it collaboration or national strategy, I think some exercise aimed at motivating the country to recognize the importance of AI is critically needed," Garfield said.

EU Ambassador to the U.S. David O’Sullivan talked about multiple policy changes companies are facing in tax and privacy regulations in an interview at the SXSW annual tech conference held in Austin, Texas.

The virtual kitten you bought online might seem docile, but it may upend how courts interpret gambling laws. Online gamers and game developers have battled in courts for years over whether in-game prizes, like a digital sword or piece of gold, can be considered items of value for gambling law purposes. Now online games built on blockchain technology, like CryptoKitties and Ethermon, might challenge future judges’ interpretation of how to apply those laws, Alexis Kramer, Bloomberg Law tech reporter, said in a recent episode of Code & Conduit.

A multi-year copyright battle between two tech giants could end with major changes in store for the software industry in 2018. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will weigh whether Alphabet Inc.’s Google infringed on Oracle America Corp.’s copyright when it copied bits of code, known as APIs, from Oracle’s Java programming language, or if that was a fair use under copyright law. The outcome of the case could ultimately upend how software developers and tech companies create new products that are compatible with one another, Bloomberg Law legal editor Anandashankar Mazumdar said in a recent episode of Code & Conduit.

The increasing pressure on social media companies to police content on their websites might get heavier in 2018. Legislation moving through the Senate and House would impact how internet publishers that allow users to post content, such as Facebook and Yelp, need to patrol their sites for content that promotes sex trafficking or prostitution.

Net neutrality debates will hardly abate in 2018 as battles over rules that guide internet traffic flows head to Congress and the court system.

The battle over who will be serving up Americans their news and media content is headed for the courtroom in 2018. The FCC's moves in 2017 to rollback media ownership rules could lead to a surge of TV broadcasters consolidating stations and reshaping American's access to local journalism.

Blockchain, the emerging technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is poised to take off in 2018, Don Tapscott, best-selling technology author and Blockchain Research Institute co-founder told Bloomberg Law. The technology can revolutionize how citizens interact with their governments by helping ensure elected officials stay accountable to constituents, and keeping personal information safe from hackers to begin with, he said.

Self-driving vehicle technology rolled into a shifting regulatory landscape in September. Intel Corp.’s senior vice president and general manager of its automated driving group, Doug Davis, discussed how new guidelines and legislation will impact the technology.