Katana VentraIP

Aaron Swartz

Aaron Hillel Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) 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;[4] the 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,[9][10] and his work focused on civic awareness and activism.[11][12][13]

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

Aaron Swartz

Aaron Hillel Swartz[1]

(1986-11-08)November 8, 1986

January 11, 2013(2013-01-11) (aged 26)

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.[14][15] 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.[16][17] 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,[18] carrying a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution, and supervised release.[19] Swartz declined a plea bargain under which he would have served six months in federal prison.[20] Two days after the prosecution rejected a counter-offer by Swartz, he was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment.[21][22] In 2013, Swartz was inducted posthumously into the Internet Hall of Fame.[23]

"Root Cause Analysis" Report (side 1), showing a descriptive timeline of events from September 25, 2010, until December 26, 2010[93]

"Root Cause Analysis" Report (side 1), showing a descriptive timeline of events from September 25, 2010, until December 26, 2010[93]

"Root Cause Analysis" Report (side 2), showing JSTOR response and incident resolution procedures[94]

"Root Cause Analysis" Report (side 2), showing JSTOR response and incident resolution procedures[94]

Email sent from JSTOR to Stephan, Heymann (USAMA), estimating 3.5 million PDF files had been downloaded[95]

Email sent from JSTOR to Stephan, Heymann (USAMA), estimating 3.5 million PDF files had been downloaded[95]

Email describing PDF download activity snapshots[96]

Email describing PDF download activity snapshots[96]

PDF download activity, from JSTOR's databases to MIT computers, between November 1 and December 27[97]

PDF download activity, from JSTOR's databases to MIT computers, between November 1 and December 27[97]

PDF activity, from JSTOR to MIT, between January 1 to 15[98]

PDF activity, from JSTOR to MIT, between January 1 to 15[98]

Response

U.S. Department of Justice

Carmen M. Ortiz, then U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, "As a parent and a sister, I can only imagine the pain felt by the family and friends of Aaron Swartz, […] I must, however, make clear that this office's conduct was appropriate in bringing and handling this case."[141]

: In collaboration with John Gruber, Swartz co-created Markdown[254][255] – a lightweight markup language for generating HTML – and was the author of its html2text translator. The syntax for Markdown was influenced by Swartz's earlier atx language (2002),[256] which today is primarily remembered for its syntax for specifying headers, known as atx-style headers:[257] Markdown itself remains in widespread use, with websites such as Reddit and GitHub using it.

Markdown

at W3C: In 2001, Swartz joined the RDFCore working group at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),[258] where he authored RFC 3870, Application/RDF+XML Media Type Registration. The document described a new media type, "RDF/XML", designed to support the Semantic Web.[259]

RDF/XML

Alexandra Elbakyan

List of Wikipedia people

Sci-Hub

Shadow library

Z-Library

Edit this at Wikidata

Official website

Github.com/aaronsw (Aaron Swartz)

on Twitter

Aaron Swartz

(2013– ), with obituary and official statement from family and partner

Remembrances

, The Documentary Network, June 29, 2014, a film by Brian Knappenberger – Luminant Media

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz

at Internet Archive (2013– ) (podcasts, e-mail correspondence, other materials)

The Aaron Swartz Collection

at IMDb

Aaron Swartz

Archived January 13, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (2013), at The Wikipedian

Posting about Swartz as Wikipedia contributor

Case Docket: US v. Swartz

Report to the President: MIT and the Prosecution of Aaron Swartz

– A collection of documents and events from JSTOR's perspective. Hundreds of emails and other documents they provided the government concerning the case.

JSTOR Evidence in United States vs. Aaron Swartz

Archived December 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, released under the Freedom of Information Act

Federal law enforcement documents about Aaron Swartz