User:Netesq
Netesq is the online alias of David F. Prenatt, Jr. dba Internet Esquire. Prenatt has degrees in both anthropology and law but works as an Internet consultant and technology evangelist. Although Prenatt is an occasional contributor to Wikipedia, where he is currently a volunteer Journeyman Editor, he has no interest in becoming a Wikipedia administrator.
UC Davis Law School and USENET[edit]
During his tenure as a student at UC Davis Law School, Prenatt was a member of the UC Davis Law Review[1], a teacher's assistant for legal writing, and a certified student attorney for the King Hall Civil Rights Clinic[2]. Meanwhile, Prenatt was a frequent poster to USENET, where his byline attracted many queries about law school, UC Davis, and the city of Davis, California. This inspired Prenatt to publish the King Hall Law School USENET FAQ[3] and a series of other USENET FAQs that paved the way for Prenatt's work as an Internet consultant for attorneys.
Life After the Open Directory Project[edit]
Prenatt worked as a volunteer editor for the Open Directory Project (ODP aka dMOZ) where he was awarded the status of "editall" shortly before his editing privileges were revoked in April of 2000. After losing his editing privileges at ODP, Prenatt wrote an insider expose of ODP for Traffick.com[4] and founded the XODP eGroup[5] as a free speech forum where ODP expatriates, ODP malcontents, and various other critics of ODP could discuss the future of the open content movement. XODP has since evolved into a business enterprise as well as a think tank and free speech forum for progressive ideas about how content on the Internet should be created and indexed.
Wikipedia[edit]
After Jimbo Wales posted news of Wikipedia at the XODP eGroup in August of 2002,[6] Prenatt began contributing to Wikipedia.[7] Prenatt's first contribution to Wikipedia was an anonymous one.[8]. Prenatt is still an occasional contributor to Wikipedia, but he is also a frequent critic. Specifically, Prenatt believes that "project forks" for Wikipedia are long overdue.[9]
Internet consulting for attorneys and continuing legal education[edit]
In addition to providing confidential website evaluations for leading law firms throughout the United States and Canada, Prenatt is a frequent lecturer at Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) programs, providing the larger legal community with basic information about the Internet as well as information about the latest trends in website design, development, and promotion.
Notes[edit]
- ^ UC Davis Law Review Home Page
- ^ Guidelines for King Hall Clinicals
- ^ King Hall Law School USENET FAQ
- ^ Traffick.com - Life After the Open Directory Project
- ^ XODP Yahoo! eGroup
- ^ XODP post by Jimbo Wales
- ^ NetEsq's Contributions to Wikipedia
- ^ David Prenatt's first (anonymous) contribution to Wikipedia.
- ^ XODP Blog - Dealing with Jackasses at Wikipedia and Citizendium