MI KE GODWI N

Attorney | Counselor | Internet Law | Policy

Silver Spring, Maryland
415-793-4446
mikegodwinattorney@gmail.com

LEGAL EXPERIENCE
Godwins Law, Washington, DC July 2014 to the present
FOUNDER, GENERAL COUNSEL.
Advising international cyberlaw and policy projects, including current projects in Southeast Asia.

Internews, Washington, DC January 2013 to August 2014
SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, GLOBAL INTERNET POLICY PROJECT (GIPP).
Guided first-time implementation and grant-making for unique capacity-building project, advising local
policy/advocacy efforts in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Rim.
Reviewed sub-grant programs for unprecedented group of partner organizations in the Philippines,
South Sudan, Colombia, Peru, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, and Pakistan, Thailand, and
Myanmar. Traveled internationally to visit and advise some local partners.
Forged new alliances for greater collaboration with relevant organizations in internet-freedom sector.
Drafted policy papers and proposals on ICT-policy problems and strategies in developing countries.

Wikimedia Foundation, San Francisco, CA 2007 to 2012
GENERAL COUNSEL AND CONSULTING ATTORNEY
Supervised all legal projects for non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia and other online
resources as Foundation grew from $2 million to $20 million in annual revenue.
Created and directed privacy, trademark, and copyright strategies and policies
Identified government-relations issues (including Wikipedia response to SOPA and PIPA initiatives)
and developed strategy for WMF's response to laws and cases in the US and abroad.
Researched and developed baseline employment-law policies to support growth from five to 55
employees. Supervised and directed outside counsel as well as law clerks.
Transitioned Wikipedia content from GFDL to Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.

Mad River Entertainment, San Francisco, CA 2011 to 2012
GENERAL COUNSEL
Supervised all legal work for digital-entertainment startup. Drafted privacy, HR policies.
Supervised all legal work for digital-content-metrics startup. Drafted stock agreements.
Advised content, patent, and business-model development.

Yale Law School & Yale Dept. of Computer Science, New Haven, CT 2005 to 2007
RESEARCH FELLOW
Advised Privacy, Obligations & Rights in Technologies of Information Assessment (PORTIA) project.
Researched and wrote guide for American Library Association on digital-rights-management issues,
and authored early position paper identifying network-neutrality approaches.
Chaired program committee for Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2006, a public-policy conference.

Public Knowledge, Washington, DC 2003 to 2005
SENIOR TECHNOLOGY COUNSEL AND LEGAL DIRECTOR
Conducted full-time advocacy for nonprofit group focused on ensuring technology and information
access and other rights for consumers. Initiated and directed all legal programs and litigation.
Developed and presented cutting-edge policy positions on critical technology issues for Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), Congress, government agencies, industry, consumer groups.

Center for Democracy and Technology, Washington, DC 1999 to 2003
POLICY FELLOW AND STAFF COUNSEL
Provided technology and legal expertise on constitutional law, criminal law, and criminal procedure,
privacy.
Initiated CDTs first copyright-policy program. Collaborated on crash program analyzing USA-
PATRIOT Act anti-terrorist legislation after September 11 terror attacks.
Organized critical response to Council of Europes International Cybercrime Convention.
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MIKE GODWIN (mikegodwinattorney@gmail.com, 415-793-4446) Page Two

Electronic Frontier Foundation, Cambridge, MA / Washington, DC / San Francisco, CA 1990 to 1999
STAFF COUNSEL
Created legal department and initiated policy and advocacy programs for the most prominent civil
liberties and technology organization in the United States. Supervised law clerks and interns.
Identified new and evolving technology issues including electronic searches and seizures.
Developed legal theories, originated, and supervised the Supreme Court case, Reno v. ACLU (1997)
addressing the First Amendments applicability to the Internet.
Advised users of electronic networks about their legal rights and responsibilities.
Conducted seminars on digital civil liberties and privacy for criminal lawyers and law-enforcement.
Co-drafted report of the Massachusetts Computer Crime Commission, adopted in March 1993.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE/OTHER FELLOWSHIPS/BOARD MEMBERSHIPS

Adjunct Professor, Internet & Media Law, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University 1998
Freedom Forum Fellow, Media Studies Center, New York, NY 1997 to 1998
Adjunct Professor, Internet & Media Law, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY 1993 to 1995
Board Memberships: Student Press Law Center (2009-2023, Open Software Initiative (2011), Privacy
International (advisory board), BitPollen (advisory board member and acting general counsel).

EDUCATION

Juris Doctor, University of Texas, Austin, TX
BA, Plan II Liberal Arts, with Highest Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Texas

BAR MEMBERSHIPS

State Bar of California, District of Columbia Bar, State Bar of Texas (inactive).

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age, Times Books, 1998; revised and expanded
paperback edition published by MIT Press in 2003.
Editor and Contributor, IP Worldwide Magazine and American Lawyer magazine, American Lawyer
Media, Washington, DC, 19992001. Analyzed legal trends, current cases; contributed regular column on
IP issues.
What Every Citizen Should Know About DRM, aka Digital Rights Management, Public Knowledge, 2004.
Godwins Law (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law) -- widely quoted guideline about invoking
inflammatory comparisons in public discussion; cited in magazine and newspaper articles, including
Wired, New York Times, and Washington Post.

SELECTED MEDIA COVERAGE

Profile, "The Wikipedia Zeitgeist," SuperLawyers, August 2008, Corporate Counsel Edition (reprinted in
Northern California edition at http://bit.ly/naxBxW.)
Schwartz, John (2010-08-02). "F.B.I., Challenging Use of Seal, Gets Back a Primer on the Law". The New
York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03fbi.html. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, podcast interview about Godwin's Law. http://bit.ly/nlbDGs
This Week in Law, #150: "Pretty Cryptic Privacy," guest appearance, 2012-02-24. http://bit.ly/yBg95R
"Life and Privacy in the Workplace," In Deep With Angie Coiro, 2012-03-24 (at 19 minutes, 30 seconds),
http://youtu.be/olIiLiFJ4VQ
Freedom 2 Connect (conference) talk on Wikipedia blackout opposing SOPA/PIPA, March 5, 2013,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqQOvxyj66w
Sunlight Got It Wrong. Guest Blog on SOPA Blackout.
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/02/07/guest-blogger-sunlight-got-it-wrong/
In The World Of Internet Policy, Online Freedom Hangs In The Balance. Forbes.com, July 21, 2013
http://onforb.es/16TnSFT


INTERESTS
History of American cinema. Shakespearean theater in performance. Consumer electronics.