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Subscribe to iCalendarNovember 17, 2007
Event Listing
Innovators Forum - Weekend Program Speaker Series Presents Mike Godwin
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The Center for Social Media is pleased to welcome Mike Godwin, the new (and first) general counsel for Wikipedia, on Saturday, November 17 in its first installment of the Innovators Forum - Weekend Program Speaker Series. Mr. Godwin will discuss the dangers of new rules and restrictions that could threaten participatory media and its growth and will reflect on the controversies affecting Wikipedia, as well as share his perspective about how social media has evolved in light of new media technologies.
November 17, 12:15 PM
12:15 - 1:15 pm, Mary Graydon Center Banquet Room 3, American University
Mr. Godwin was the first lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He has spurred recent controversy for his ideas on Godwin’s Law, which is, simply stated, “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
Mr Godwin worked as the staff attorney and later the legal director for Public Knowledge, a non-governmental organization that focuses on intellectual property law. Godwin continues to focus on copyright and technology policy, and how emerging issues of digital rights fits into existing American copyright law. Godwin also served as a research fellow at Yale University, contributing to its Information Society Project at Yale Law School and the computer science department.
Godwin was hired as general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation in July 2007. In response to criticism of the accuracy of Wikipedia, and its “self-correcting nature,” Godwin has stated: “The best answer for bad speech is more speech.” More information can be found at his Wikipedia page