[liberationtech] Tragic News: Aaron Swartz commits suicide

[Fran Parker]

I didn't know Aaron Swartz personally, but we all have seen what a 
wonderful person he was. He was a talented and gifted individual and my 
heart goes out to his family and friends. And to all of us ... as we all 
lost an amazing advocate.

I posted two different postings on my blog:

The Truth about Aaron Swartz by Unhandled.com
http://bambismusings.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/the-truth-about-aaron-swartz/

On this one I have added additional quotes and links as time has gone on.

And today, this new one in support of EFF's Reform Draconian Computer Laws:

Reform Draconian Computer Crime Law
http://bambismusings.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/reform-draconian-computer-crime-law/

I wasn't sure I should post since I am not a close friend, or an IRL 
friend, nor did I ever converse with him as an Internet friend. I was 
just someone who hates to see such tragedy go un addressed by those of 
us who all are recipients of so much he was a part of.

I joined with Aaron Swartz and the rest of us in support of stopping the 
PIPA/SOPA fiasco. But that's about as close to being a friend as i got.

On the other hand, I have been on the receiving end of the work he did, 
as all of us have been in regard to his work with RSS and the various 
sites he has been instrumental in, such as Reddit, DemandProgress, etc.

I get so tired of seeing our best and brightest pushed like this. It is 
such a true tragedy we have no control over sadly. I find it horrific to 
think that our tax dollars are paying for the salaries of those who put 
Aaron in this position of feeling truly hopeless.

Sigh...

Yosem Companys wrote:
> This is a tragic loss and a terrible blow to the liberationtech community.
>
> Yosem
>
>
>
> http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N61/swartz.html
>
> Aaron Swartz commits suicide
>
> Web Update
>
> By Anne Cai
> NEWS EDITOR; UPDATED AT 2:15 A.M. 1/12/13
>
> Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City
> yesterday, Jan. 11, according to his uncle, Michael Wolf, in a comment
> to The Tech. Swartz was 26.
>
> “The tragic and heartbreaking information you received is,
> regrettably, true,” confirmed Swartz’ attorney, Elliot R. Peters of
> Kecker and Van Nest, in an email to The Tech.
>
> Swartz was indicted in July 2011 by a federal grand jury for allegedly
> mass downloading documents from the JSTOR online journal archive with
> the intent to distribute them. He subsequently moved to Brooklyn, New
> York, where he then worked for Avaaz Foundation, a nonprofit “global
> web movement to bring people-powered politics to decision-making
> everywhere.” Swartz appeared in court on Sept. 24, 2012 and pleaded
> not guilty.
>
> The accomplished Swartz co-authored the now widely-used RSS 1.0
> specification at age 14, was one of the three co-owners of the popular
> social news site Reddit, and completed a fellowship at Harvard’s
> Ethics Center Lab on Institutional Corruption. In 2010, he founded
> DemandProgress.org, a “campaign against the Internet censorship bills
> SOPA/PIPA.”
> --
> Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>