Monday, January 21, 2013

Aaron Swartz is gone. The guerrilla for OpenAccess will go on

On the wake of Aaron Swartz death on January 11th we wished to update our post on his indictment by Federal Authorities  accused of "wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and recklessly damaging a protected computer". He killed himself on January 11th, aged 27 from  Information shall be freed. Aaron Swartz and the Guerrilla Open access manifesto July 2011

Lawrence Lessig and Aaron Swartz (2002) / Rich Gibson / CC BY
 While Aaron might not be any longer among us, his memory and determination shall serve as an example to all of us  in keeping up the good fight for which he paid the ultimate price.
"There is no justice in following unjust laws. It’s time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.

We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open Access"
 From the Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto July 2008

We shall neither forget those who cornered and bullied Aaron,  attempting to intimidate him with the threat of a lenghty prison sentence and a huge fine.
 "Aaron’s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office and at MIT contributed to his death. The US Attorney’s office pursued an exceptionally harsh array of charges, carrying potentially over 30 years in prison, to punish an alleged crime that had no victims. Meanwhile, unlike JSTOR, MIT refused to stand up for Aaron and its own community’s most cherished principles"
 From the  Official statement from family and partner of Aaron Swartz Jan. 11th 2013

Some material on Aaron, his thoughts and work be it with CreativeCommons, Archive.org, or DemandProgress.orgRemembrances of Aaron, as well as donations in his memory, can be submitted at http://rememberaaronsw.com.


@onadaexpansiva's tweets
#A2K, #MITsnitch #AaronSwartz


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