Mike Godwin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mike Godwin
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| Born |
Michael Wayne Godwin
October 26, 1956 |
| Education | University of Texas, Austin (BA, JD) |
| Known for | Godwin's law |
Michael Wayne Godwin (born October 26, 1956) is an American lawyer and writer. He was the very first lawyer to work for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). He is famous for creating Godwin's law, which is a saying about online discussions. He also helped develop the idea of an Internet meme, which is a popular image or video that spreads quickly online.
From 2007 to 2010, Mike Godwin was the main lawyer for the Wikimedia Foundation, the group that runs Wikipedia. He has also been involved with other important internet groups, like the Open Source Initiative and the Internet Society.
Early Life and School
Mike Godwin went to Lamar High School in Houston. He then studied at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980. Later, he went to law school at the University of Texas School of Law and became a lawyer in 1990. While in law school, he was the editor of the student newspaper, The Daily Texan.
In 1990, while still in law school, Godwin helped share information about a government raid on a company called Steve Jackson Games. This event was important because it showed how government actions could affect people using computers and the internet. His involvement in this case was written about in a book called The Hacker Crackdown.
Working to Protect Online Rights
Mike Godwin's work with the Steve Jackson Games case led him to join the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in 1990. The EFF was a new group at the time, focused on protecting people's rights in the digital world. As the EFF's first in-house lawyer, he helped the Steve Jackson Games company win their case against the government in 1993.
As a lawyer for the EFF, Godwin also worked on a big case against the Communications Decency Act in 1996. This law tried to control what people could say online. The highest court in the U.S., the Supreme Court, decided in 1997 that parts of this law went against the First Amendment, which protects free speech. Godwin wrote a book about his work on these cases called Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age.
Godwin has also worked for other groups that focus on technology and law, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology. He has written for Reason magazine for many years.
From 2003 to 2005, Godwin worked at Public Knowledge, a group in Washington, D.C., that deals with intellectual property law. He focused on how copyright laws affect digital technology. He helped challenge a rule that would have put DRM restrictions on television. DRM is technology that controls how you can use digital content.
From 2005 to 2007, Godwin was a researcher at Yale University, studying how technology affects privacy and rights.
From 2007 to 2010, Mike Godwin was the main lawyer for the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that runs Wikipedia. He once said that "The best answer for bad speech is more speech," meaning that more discussion and information can help correct wrong or harmful ideas. In 2010, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asked Wikipedia to remove its seal, Godwin famously wrote a letter refusing their demand. He explained that the FBI's understanding of the law was incorrect.
Godwin has also supported net neutrality since 2006. Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers should treat all data on the internet equally, without blocking or slowing down certain websites or apps. While at Wikimedia, he supported Wikipedia Zero, a program that allowed people in some countries to access Wikipedia for free, even though it went against strict net neutrality principles. Wikipedia Zero ended in 2018.
Mike Godwin has served on the boards of several important organizations, including the Student Press Law Center, the Open Source Initiative, and the Internet Society. In 2020, he was involved in a discussion about the future of the ".org" internet address.
In 2021, Godwin worked at TikTok as a director focusing on trust and safety. Since October 2022, he has been working at Anonym, a company that focuses on "privacy-safe advertising."
Personal Life
In 2017, Mike Godwin married Sienghom Ches. They met in Cambodia when Godwin was there helping activists work on an "internet Bill of Rights."
See also
In Spanish: Mike Godwin para niños
- List of Wikipedia people
