fighting for freedom: aaron swartz 1986-2013

Fighting for Freedom

Aaron Swartz: 1986 – 2013

Meet Aaron Swartz

Aaron was a Creative Genius

He was also a Freedom Fighter

…we’ve lost a fighter. We’ve lost somebody who put huge energy into righting wrongs. There are people around the world who take it on themselves to just try to fix the world but very few of them do it 24/7 like Aaron. …what he was doing up to the end was fighting for right...

Sir Tim Berners Lee18 Jan 2013www.rememberaaronsw.org

His battles were against Five Great Injustices

1) Prosecutorial Overreach2) The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act3) Guilty Until Proven Rich4) Sequestration of Public Domain Knowledge5) Obsession with Copyright Violation

5) Obsession with Copyright Violation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgh2dFngFsg

4) Sequestration of Public Domain Knowledge

Aaron believed public domain documents should be freely available to all

3) Guilty Until Proven Rich

https://www.facebook.com/TheOther98

2) The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2013/02/01

1) Prosecutorial Overreach

His parents have said "he was killed by the government"

Aaron said "fix the machine, not the person"

Aaron was facing 35 years in prison and $1m in fines for actions that harmed no-one.

He was hounded for two years by Asst US Attorneys Scott Garland and Stephen Heymann, working under US Attorney Carmen Ortiz

How Aaron Responded

Aaron fought the District Attorney's office for two years.

On January 11 2013, exhausted, demoralised, and out of money, Aaron gave up the fight by

taking his own life.

There's Going To Be A Revolution…is what I posted on Facebook on January 17

I was wrongWe're already in the middle of it

Many other people have been affected by it:

It's the Internet Freedom RevolutionAnd it's entering a whole new phase…

• Julian Assange• Bradley Manning• Gottfrid Svartholm

• Andrew Auernheimer• Lori Drew• …and more…

• Kim Dotcom• Gary McKinnon

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/julian-assange

http://www.bradleymanning.org/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/01/wikileaks-sweden-pirate-bay

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/21/ipad-hack-statement-of-responsibility/

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/12/can-lori-drew-v/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/19/newzealand-dotcom-idUSL6N0AL02Y20130119

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/europe/uk-us-mckinnon-extradition

Anonymous – There Will Be Chaos

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/26/anonymous-threatens-massive-wikileaks-style-exposure-announced-on-hacked-gov-site/

Join the "people whose voices emerge from the light"

• Join Demand Progress and sign their online petition• Sign the Whitehouse Petitions for

reform of the CFAA and removal of Carmen Ortiz• Research the stories of the other people affected by

the Internet Freedom Revolution• Raise awareness amongst your community• Support Creative Commons• Ask your local politicians about their stance on

internet censorship and copyright law• Vote for people who are progressive on these issues

http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/aaron_justice/

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/reform-computer-fraud-and-abuse-act-reflect-realities-computing-and-networks-2013/qMvdwVNw

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

History

Feb 5: The Battle for his Legacy - SlateFeb 4: Why Aaron Died – Taren SKJan 26: There Will Be Chaos – AnonymousJan 18: Five Great Injustices - MACJan 17: There's Going to be a Revolution – MACJan 14: Thoughtworks Mourns Aaron SwartzJan 13: Fighting for Freedom - MACJan 12: Aaron Swartz Found Dead – Huffington Post25/9/12: Fix the Machine, Not the Person – Aaron22/5/12: How We Stopped SOPA - Aaron

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/05/aaron_swartz_memorial_service_demonstrates_the_battle_for_his_legacy.html

http://tarensk.tumblr.com/post/42260548767/why-aaron-died

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/26/anonymous-threatens-massive-wikileaks-style-exposure-announced-on-hacked-gov-site/

http://macssoapbox.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/five-great-injustices.html

http://macssoapbox.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/there-going-to-be-revolution.html

http://www.thoughtworks.com/news/thoughtworks-mourns-aaron-swartz

http://macssoapbox.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/fighting-for-freedom.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/12/aaron-swartz_n_2463726.html

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/nummi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgh2dFngFsg

Remember Aaron Swartz

Aaron's Blog