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Interviews: Ask Attorney and Author Mike Godwin a Question

Posted by samzenpus on from the go-ahead-and-ask dept.

Mike Godwin worked as the first staff counsel of the EFF and served as general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation. He has been a contributing editor of Reason magazine and was elected to the Open Source Initiative board in 2011. Mike is probably best known however for coining the internet adage Godwin's Law. He is currently general counsel and director of innovation policy at the R Street Institute. Mike has given us some of his time to answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question (and one comparison involving Nazis or Hitler) per post.

5 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. What law would you add/change? by sbaker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you had a totally free chance to write or change a law - what would you change?

        -- Steve

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    www.sjbaker.org
  2. Rise of Libertarianism by mi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How would you judge the progress, Libertarianism is making in the US? Do you consider it rising, flat, or, perhaps, diminishing as a philosophy?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  3. Encryption by Pollux · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Do you believe governments / the US Government will succeed in forcing digital communication giants like Apple or Google to either make illegal zero-knowledge encryption methods or mandate backdoor decryptors to snoop on customer data and communications?

  4. Tool to stifle debate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Are you concerned that you've become an internet meme and your "law" a tool to stifle debate?

    I've seen legitimate comparisons to Nazism shut down because someone pops into a discussion in an almost automatic fashion and invokes "Godwins Law" when the word "Nazi" is used, whether the invocation was within context, or not.

  5. USA First Use Doctrine in Other Countries by retroworks · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So much right-to-repair, right-to-own, right-to-modify law is based on an 1800s cotton baling wire case. We are happy that USA Supreme Court has routinely sided with refurbishers (Fuji vs. Jazz Camera, Lexmark vs. Arizona Ink Cartridge Remanufacturers), and the WTO defense of Remanufacturers in the Doha Round of NTTBs was great http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/t... However, just as alarming are the cases going the other way in other countries (Fuji won vs. Jazz Camera in Japan). As the USA recedes from its role as the largest consumer market, it seems that Chinese precedent might go either way. Will the future of copyright law in other countries follow the First Use Doctrine?

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    Gently reply