Thank you for pointing out the obvious, the speaker did not ever claim that software code is law.

The speaker talks about the implications of the first US sanctions that target open source software and ownerless smart contracts.

> Law regulates software industry

After the fact, where it can.

Effectively, "next generation" software has enjoyed much freedom from government intervention — in fact, they're usually the ones building it, and/or using it until it becomes too mainstream.