CopyNight NYC: Aaron Swartz, JSTOR & The Prosecution

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Laure

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Jan 14, 2013, 10:32:43 PM1/14/13

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This is a sad month for internet freedom. Aaron Swartz, the extremely talented young technologist behind RSS technology, Reddit, and Demand Progress took his own life on January 11, 2013. One of the potential contributing factors in his death was the prosecution he faced as a result of his hacking into JSTOR databases at MIT and releasing proprietary scholarly work free as an act of opposition to their business policies.

At this month's CopyNight, we will discuss the case and the implications of the prosecution, whether it was overreach and who or what is responsible. Attorney Phil Weiss will help to clarify some of the legal issues in the case.

In such a sad situation, we pass along our condolences to those who knew Aaron and hope coming to a greater understanding of the situation will be a small tribute to his memory.

Phil Weiss is an associate at Fridman Law Group PLLC. He graduated magna cum laude from Brooklyn Law School with a concentration in information law and intellectual property. During law school, Phil served as an Executive Articles Editor of the Brooklyn Law Review and performed substantial research into the law of telecommunications, First Amendment, copyright, and other cyberlaw issues. Phil is also an alum of Brooklyn Law’s Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) where he worked closely with pre-seed tech startups on early-stage legal issues.

Note: CopyNight this month will be on Monday, January 28, at 7PM at Vig Bar, 12 Spring Street.