in memory: ten years since activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide aged 26

[Robbie Morrison]

Hello all

Most will have encountered Aaron Swartz indirectly as a co‑developer of markdown.

Aaron was also a United States internet activist. Aaron was arrested in January 2011 after systematically downloading copyright‑protected academic journal articles from a JSTOR server using a guest account. Federal prosecutors subsequently laid charges with a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution, and supervised release. Swartz declined a plea bargain under which he would have served six months in federal prison.

The material Aaron obtained was never made public and the criminal charges relate solely to the act of downloading. Prosecutors claim that Swartz acted with the intention of making the papers available on P2P file‑sharing sites. JSTOR, rather than pursue a civil lawsuit against Aaron, reached a settlement in June 2011 wherein Swartz surrendered the downloaded data. Prosecutors nonetheless continued with criminal proceedings

Aaron took his life on 11 January 2013 aged 26.

with sadness, Robbie

-- 
Robbie Morrison
Address: Schillerstrasse 85, 10627 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49.30.612-87617