Jimmy Wales To Become UK Government Adviser

judgecorp writes "Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is to become a U.K. government adviser on open government. The unpaid post, announced at SXSW, will see him contributing ideas on issues including the single government portal open.gov.uk, among other things. Wales has been an outspoken critic of some government intiatives in the U.S., including the SOPA act on copyright — whose British counterpart, the DEA, is already law."

Comments

Fucking wow.

[Nursie]

Seriously.

This is about the most sensible government related news (especially from teh UK) I've heard in about a decade.

Some people may or may nhot have objections to Mr Wales personal politics and drives (I can't think of any right now, myself). Some people object to anything. But having a guy with a deep dedication to freedom of information in a place where he can at least get a point of view across to government, even if it's then ignored, is a huge step forwards.

Re:Fucking wow.

[Fluffeh]

even if it's then ignored, is a huge step forwards.

That depends on the purpose of putting him into that role. If the purpose is to get input from someone who is actually trying to make things better, then it is a good thing. If the purpose is merely to appease the masses by putting in someone and then not listening to a thing they say - just to have the appearance of trying to make things better, then it is worse than not putting him into that role at all.

Sorry for the half empty tone here, it's been a frustrating day for me.

Re:Fucking wow.

[Darinbob]

What's he going to do, shout down some good idea from someone just because they haven't posted enough and aren't well known? Following rules are more important to Wikipedia than actually getting the facts in. Actually, I guess that makes wikipedia and normal governments pretty similar...

Re:Fucking wow.

[hcs_$reboot]

This is about the most sensible government related news I've heard in about a decade

This is so true. While I doubt about it, that would be even greater if it could have a bit of influence over the other European countries. E.g. France, a country that currently takes the exact opposite direction.

Re:Fucking wow.

[SimonTheSoundMan]

Humm, best thing since Gordon Brown's cabinet of "all the talents" maybe. That had plenty of notable advisers.

Also remember most of the House of Lords is made of people like Jimbo (not personality but success).

Re:Fucking wow.

[lxs]

Remember the fate of David Nutt? Goverment advisors are not supposed to actually give advice of have an opinion of their own.

Re:Fucking wow.

[l-ascorbic]

The UK govt has been surprisingly good about listening to advice from tech advisors. open.gov.uk itself is the result of advice from some guy called Tim Berners-Lee. The new gov.uk site is also a great sign of the government finally starting to get it.

The DEA is not SOPA

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Not only is the DEA not SOPA, it was also pushed through under very dubious circumstances right before the last election (most MPs didn't even vote on it, never mind discuss it properly) and is subject to ongoing legal challenges on several counts.

It's a silly bit of law, made on a technicality, but let's not get hysterical.

Please Read

[GonzoPhysicist]

How could they ignore him, just think of all the personal appeals he'll be making.

What I'm not looking forward to

[93 Escort Wagon]

Invade Pakistan - a personal appeal from Jimmy Wales.

Re:Oh the irony.

[MysteriousPreacher]

Rule of law is whst makes freedom possible. What you appear to be describing is an online version of that Randian dream, Somalia. Try building an online encyclopedia of this scale, without having rules and measures to deal with the guys who will devote alarming amounts of time to replacing all nouns with "shitcock".