Aaron Swartz evolved from computer prodigy to cyber activist gradually, fueled by an insatiable curiosity and an omnipresent cause.
“From the youngest age imaginable, about 13 years, he had done one thing: work to meet his ideal of what the world should be like,” said Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, a father-figure and friend to Swartz for more than a decade.
Comments
A rose by any other name... is still a thief. Sorry, but he made his own bed, but didn't want to lie in it
He wasn't a thief. Innocent until proven guilty--does that ring any bells?
Read the story of what he did-- he violated the terms of service of JSTOR. The prosecutors were angry because he had previously taken public court documents and downloaded them in a similar manner. They tried to charge him at the time, but failed to be able to find any crime he had committed in taking the documents that the taxpayers had already paid for and had legal access to in order to -- yeah, just that, give anyone free access to them.
He wasn't a thief. Innocent until proven guilty--does that ring any bells?
Read the story of what he did-- he violated the terms of service of JSTOR. The prosecutors were angry because he had previously taken public court documents and downloaded them in a similar manner. They tried to charge him at the time, but failed to be able to find any crime he had committed in taking the documents that the taxpayers had already paid for and had legal access to in order to -- yeah, just that, give anyone free access to them.
None of us would choose to live in world where everyone is able to decide for themselves what is legal and then proceed to act as they wish, regardless of others. This case was not aimed at an individual, it was aimed at the lager community of skilled hackers who envision themselves above mere laws, guided by their personal sense of integrity and entitlement that theu believe allows them to transcend it. It is that pervaisive, and fundamentally anti-democratic, attitude that drove the prosecution.
'Computer crime' is still crime, 'intellectual property' is still property, taking something from someone else, even if you plan to just give it away, is still stealing. In civilized society, when adults oppose a practice, they work with other like-minded people to change the law.
I mourn the needless loss of any life, but sadly, in what he perhaps saw as a final act of transcendence, or perhaps not, this young man made a choice to end his.
Lessig's friendship with Swartz is clouding his judgment. Fact is, neither Swartz nor I nor Lessig can decide unilaterally whether something should be free or not. Swartz was a genius and knew what the consequences were to his actions. He simply wasn't prepared to suffer them.