One thought on “BE AWARE!!! (for the late Aaron Swartz)”

1. “…Swartz was arrested in July 2011 for allegedly downloading approximately 4 million academic journals from JSTOR with the intent to distribute them for free over P2p file-sharing sites. He was charged with wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, and recklessly damaging a protected computer. In September 2012, Swartz appeared in court and plead not guilty to those charges. Just two days before Swartz’s suicide, JSTOR — perhaps because of Swartz’s actions — began offering free but limited access to its archives.”

   All this guy was guilty of was being an idealist in the Information Age. All he wanted to do was share previously published information, (!@*#! academic journals!) There’s a thing called a public library that does the very same thing he did: anyone can walk in with ID and walk out with previously published written materials, FOR FREE, and do with them what they wish. Isn’t all this man guilty of is sharing (or trying to share?)

   So now, if I go to the library or to a website or borrow a cookbook from a friend and copy a recipe for ‘Quiche Lorraine’and use it to make quiche at home or in a restaurant or at the local church picnic, does that mean I’ve infringed on copyrighted material and I now owe someone money? Ridiculous.

   But the real tragedy is this guy killing himself:
   “The true institutional failure witnessed in this sad case is a Federal Justice Department that would allow the rogues gallery of swindlers and money launderers who brought down the global economy to walk free while continually harassing a person whose alleged crime was performed in the public interest and whose alleged victims asked the prosecution to stop. It’s an illustration of how seriously messed up this country’s official priorities are…”

   Very true.