Aaron Swartz

For the British actor, see Aaron Swartz (actor). For other people, see Aaron Schwartz (disambiguation).

Aaron Swartz
Swartz with glasses, smiling with Jason Scott (cut off from the picture from the left)
Swartz in 2011
Born
Aaron Hillel Swartz[1]

(1986-11-08)November 8, 1986
Highland Park, Illinois,[2] U.S.
DiedJanuary 11, 2013(2013-01-11) (aged 26)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by hanging
Education
Occupations
Years active1999-2013
Organizations
TitleFellow, Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
PartnersQuinn Norton (2007–2011)
Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman (2011–2013)
Awards
Websiteaaronsw.com

Aaron Hillel Swartz (/ˈɛ(ə).rən hɪ.ˈlɛl ˈswɔːrts/ ⓘ; November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013), also known as AaronSw, was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist. As a programmer, Swartz helped develop the web feed format RSS;[3] the technical architecture for Creative Commons, an organization dedicated to creating copyright licenses;[3] the Python website framework web.py; and the lightweight markup language format Markdown. Swartz was involved in the development of the social news aggregation website Reddit until he departed from the company in 2007.[note 1] He is often credited as a martyr and a prodigy,[8][9] and his work focused on civic awareness and activism.[10][11][12]

After Reddit was sold to Condé Nast Publications in 2006, Swartz became more involved in activism, helping launch the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in 2009. In 2010, he became a research fellow at Harvard University's Safra Research Lab on Institutional Corruption, directed by Lawrence Lessig.[13][14] He founded the online group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act.

On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) police on state breaking-and-entering charges, after connecting a computer to the MIT network in an unmarked and unlocked closet and setting it to download academic journal articles systematically from JSTOR using a guest user account issued to him by MIT.[15][16] Federal prosecutors, led by Carmen Ortiz, later charged him with two counts of wire fraud and eleven violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,[17] carrying a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution, and supervised release.[18] Swartz declined a plea bargain under which he would have served six months in federal prison.[19] Two days after the prosecution rejected a counter-offer by Swartz, he was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment.[20][21] In 2013, Swartz was inducted posthumously into the Internet Hall of Fame.[22]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference yearwood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Skaggs, Paula (January 16, 2013). "Aaron Swartz Remembered as Internet Activist who Changed the World". Patch. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Glaser, April (November 7, 2014). "Join Us This Weekend in Honoring Aaron Swartz's Legacy by Hacking for a Better World". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  4. ^ Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine (2018). We Are the Nerds: The Birth and Tumultuous Life of Reddit, the Internet's Culture Laboratory. Hachette Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-316-43540-6. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  5. ^ "Not A Bug, Inc.: Private company information". Bloomberg Business. October 31, 2006. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wired-arrest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "There was a third 'co-founder' of reddit", Today I Learned, Reddit, October 18, 2010, archived from the original on April 21, 2017, retrieved August 25, 2017, Aaron isn't a founder of reddit.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference martyr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference prodigy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Swartz, Aaron. "Sociology or Anthropology". Raw Thought. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  11. ^ Swartz, Aaron (May 13, 2008). "Simplistic Sociological Functionalism". Raw Thought. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  12. ^ Anon (2022). "What's the most important problem in the world? Are you working on it?". ycombinator.com. Hacker News. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023. What is the most important thing you could be working on in the world right now? ... And if you're not working on that, why aren't you? Swartz may have been quoting Richard Hamming's talk You and Your Research
  13. ^ Seidman, Bianca (July 22, 2011). "Internet activist charged with hacking into MIT network". Arlington, Va.: Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017. [Swartz] was in the middle of a fellowship at Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, in its Lab on Institutional Corruption
  14. ^ "Lab Fellows 2010–2011: Aaron Swartz". Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. Harvard University. 2010. Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. During the fellowship year, he will conduct experimental and ethnographic studies of the political system to prepare a monograph on the mechanisms of political corruption.
  15. ^ Gerstein, Josh (July 22, 2011). "MIT also pressing charges against hacking suspect". Politico. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2019. [Swartz's] alleged use of MIT facilities and Web connections to access the JSTOR database ... resulted in two state felony charges for breaking into a 'depository' and breaking & entering in the daytime, according to local prosecutors.
  16. ^ Commonwealth v. Swartz, 11-52CR73 & 11-52CR75, MIT Police Incident Report 11-351 (Mass. Dist. Ct. nolle prosequi December 16, 2011) ("Captain Albert P[...] and Special Agent Pickett were able to apprehend the suspect at 24 Lee Street.... He was arrested for two counts of Breaking and Entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony...."), archived from the original.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Indictment was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference SwartzAaronPR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Timothy, Lee. "Aaron Swartz and the Corrupt Practice of Plea Bargaining". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  20. ^ "Aaron Swartz, Tech Prodigy and Internet Activist, Is Dead at 26". Time. January 13, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  21. ^ "Aaron Swartz, internet freedom activist, dies aged 26". BBC News. January 13, 2013. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  22. ^ "Internet Hall of Fame Announces 2013 Inductees". Internet Hall of Fame. June 26, 2013. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2013.


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