Mike Godwin, author of Godwin’s Law, is a favorite at MB; and his name has been invoked on more than one thread here at this blog.  Who knew that he ended up as chief counsel for Wikipedia?!  I certainly didn’t, and was delighted to discover his name at the bottom of Wikipedia’s sardonic rejoinder to the FBI — Godwin’s letter is the funniest piece of legal writing I have ever run across.

Apparently it all started with the FBI demanding that Wikipedia remove its seal as an illustration to the WP entry on the FBI.  Read all about it here.  You’ll find lots of familiar MB themes: casuistry, Demand producing Resistance, and so on.  Enjoy.

COMMENTS

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2 responses to “The FBI and the Encyclopedians”

1. Joshua Corrigan says:

   08/10/2010 at 9:37 am

   Dear Mr. Stampdawg esq., in accordance with the plain meaning of section 701, please remove the FBI logo from this Mockingbird post.

   Yours truly,
   J. Edgar Hoover

   Reply
2. Big Daddy says:

   08/10/2010 at 11:31 am

   Since this tickled your funny bone, you might want to check out William Gaddis' A Frolic of His Own, which contains one of the funniest legal decisions (albeit fictional) ever put to paper.

   Reply