The recent death of Aaron Swartz has provoked a lot of commentary on the web so I thought I would gather some of it here. This is by no means an attempt to be comprehensive as the amount of commentary has been truly vast. I've tried to gather enough so that someone working through even a small selection of the posts would get a good idea of all the dimensions of the story. I've also tried to perhaps give a bit of a library/academia slant in the selection.
As usual with these compilations, readers should feel free to suggest further readings in the comments especially those that add a dimension that I've missed.
My own personal thoughts are here: Library vendors, politics, Aaron Swartz, #pdftribute
Some general resources.
- Wikipedia article on Aaron Swartz
- Remember Aaron Swartz
- Remember Aaron Swartz: Official statement from family and partner of Aaron Swartz
- The Aaron Swartz Collection at The Internet Archive
- pdftribute.net -- Links scraped from Twitter hashtag #pdftribute.
- Guerilla Open Access Manifesto
- How to make your own work open access
- Remove United States District Attorney Carmen Ortiz from office for overreach in the case of Aaron Swartz. (Petition at Whitehouse.gov)
- If I get hit by a truck... by Aaron Swartz
- rememberaaronsw github resource page
- Demand justice for Aaron: Support "Aaron's Law" and inquiry into his prosecution
The story:
- 2013.01.12. Aaron Swartz commits suicide by Anne Cai
- 2013.01.12. My Aaron Swartz, whom I loved. by Quinn Norton
- 2013.01.12. Aaron, RIP by Lawrence Lessig
- 2013.01.12. RIP, Aaron Swartz by Cory Doctorow
- 2013.01.12. Prosecutor as bully by Lawrence Lessig
- 2013.01.12. Aaron Swartz by James Fallows
- 2013.01.12. RIP Aaron Swartz by The Library Loon
- 2013.01.12. Remember Aaron Swartz: Official statement from family and partner of Aaron Swartz
- 2013.01.12. Internet Activist, a Creator of RSS, Is Dead at 26, Apparently a Suicide by John Schwartz
- 2013.01.12. Rest in peace, Aaron Swartz by David Weinberger
- 2013.01.12. The inspiring heroism of Aaron Swartz by Glenn Greenwald
- 2013.01.12. The Truth about Aaron Swartz’s “Crime” by Alex Stamos
- 2013.01.12. Remembering Aaron Swartz by Henry Farrell
- 2013.01.12. Aaron Swartz, Was 26 by James Grimmelmann
- 2013.01.12. Speaking Truth to Power: By and about Aaron Swartz collected by Bob Stein
- 2013.01.12. Aaron Swartz -- JSTOR statement
- 2013.01.12. The web responds to the death of hacker-activist Aaron Swartz by Mathew Ingram
- 2013.01.12. Farewell to Aaron Swartz, an Extraordinary Hacker and Activist by Peter Eckersley
- 2013.01.13. Ten simple ways to share PDFs of your papers #PDFtribute by Jonathan Eisen
- Aaron Swartz, American hero by Tim Lee
- 2013.01.13. Death of Aaron Swartz, Reddit co-founder
- 2013.01.13. A Data Crusader, a Defendant and Now, a Cause by Noam Cohen
- 2013.01.13. Anonymous hacks MIT after Aaron Swartz's suicide by Steven Musil
- 2013.01.13. Researchers begin posting article PDFs to twitter in #pdftribute to Aaron Swartz by Micah Allen
- 2013.01.13. President Reif writes to MIT community regarding Aaron Swartz
- 2013.01.13. Aaron Swartz was not a hacker. He was a builder. by David Weinberger
- 2013.01.13. Library values and the growing scholarly digital divide: In memoriam Aaron Swartz by Jonathan Rochkind
- 2013.01.13. Anonymous Appears To Have Hacked MIT Website, Leaves Swartz Tribute by Gregory Ferenstein
- 2013.01.13. “If someone is in need of knowledge and you can provide it, but you don’t, you are guilty of a crime against the human spirit…” by Jay Rosen
- 2013.01.13. processing the loss of Aaron Swartz by Danah Boyd
- 2013.01.13. Our tribute to Aaron Swartz – #pdftribute by jessica
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz, 1986-2013 by Peter Suber
- 2013.01.14. Making your research openly available – #pdftribute by Sarah Shreeves
- 2013.01.14. Anonymous hacks MIT sites to post Aaron Swartz tribute, call to arms by Hayley Tsukayama
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz by Tracy Mitrano
- 2013.01.14. How the Legal System Failed Aaron Swartz—And Us by Tim Wu
- 2013.01.14. Wikipedia Special Report: Loss of an Internet genius by The ed17
- 2013.01.14. What would have happened if Aaron Swartz had succeeded with a JSTOR leak? by Brian Cody
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz, #pdftribute, and Scholarship@Western
- 2013.01.14. We've nominated Aaron Swartz for the ALA James Madison award and you should too! by James Jacobs
- 2013.01.14. Techno-McCarthyism and the death of Aaron Swartz by Jesse Brown
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz's "Crime" and the Business of Breaking the Law by James Allworth
- 2013.01.14. Congressional Offices Continue to Illegally Download Movies and TV Shows by Elizabeth Flock
- 2013.01.14. With the CFFA, Law and Justive are not the Same Thing: A Response to Orin Kerr by Jennifer Granick
- 2013.01.14. Towards Learning from Losing Aaron Swartz by Jennifer Granick
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz Faced A More Severe Prison Term Than Killers, Slave Dealers And Bank Robbers by Ian Millhiser
- 2013.01.14. In the Wake of Aaron Swartz's Death, Let's Fix Draconian Computer Crime Law by Marcia Hofman
- 2013.01.14. Government formally drops charges against Aaron Swartz by Cyrus Farivar
- 2013.01.14. 10 things you can do to REALLY support #OpenAccess #PDFTribute by Jonathan Eisen
- 2013.01.14. Prosecutor Dismisses Charges Against Aaron Swartz by Kevin Poulson
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz, being brave and taking risks by Corin Haines
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz's Politics
- 2013.01.14. Days of reflecting by Lawrence Lessig
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz and How to Deal With Suicide by Bill Brenner
- 2013.01.14. Aaron Swartz’s Suicide Prompts MIT Soul-Searching by Sam Gustin
- 2013.01.14. Reacting to Aaron Swartz's Suicide by Scott Jaschik
- 2013.01.14. Goodbye Aaron Swartz – and Long Live Your Legacy by Daniel Mietchen
- 2013.01.14. As If Lives Depended On It by Barbara Fister
- 2013.01.14. Vale Aaron Swartz by Alwx Golub
- 2013.01.15. Academe Is Complicit by Timothy Burke
- 2013.01.15. The Opportune Moment: Why and How To Leverage Unexpected Events by Dorothea Salo
- 2013.01.15. the free flow of information and ideas to present and future generations by Bess Sadler
- 2013.01.15. Tribute to Aaron Swartz by EIFL
- 2013.01.15. IBM Exec Husband of Aaron Swartz Prosecutor Takes to Twitter to Defend His Wife by Jessica Roy
- 2013.01.15. Towards Learning from Losing Aaron Swartz: Part 2 by Jennifer Granick
- 2013.01.15. After Aaron Swartz: The Tech World Must Talk About Depression by Christina Warren
- 2013.01.15. Aaron Swartz Case 'Snowballed Out Of MIT's Hands,' Source Says by Gerry Smith
- 2013.01.15. Darrell Issa Probing Prosecution Of Aaron Swartz, Internet Pioneer Who Killed Himself
- 2013.01.15. Why we mourn by David Weinberger
- 2013.01.15. Aaron Swartz was curious by Dave Winer
- 2013.01.15. To Make Open Access Work, We Need to Do More Than Liberate Journal Articles by Dan Cohen
- 2013.01.16. 'Aaron's Law' Suggests Reforms To Computer Fraud Act (But Not Enough To Have Protected Aaron Swartz) by Andy Greenberg
- 2013.01.16. if not now, when? by Amy Buckland
- 2013.01.16. Aaron Swartz and Open Access in Academia by Sarah Kendzior
- 2013.01.16. I'm Rep Zoe Lofgren & I'm introducing "Aaron's Law" to change the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) (on Reddit)
- 2013.01.16. Martyrs, Causes and History by Tracy Mitrano
- 2013.01.16. Adieu, Aaron by Scott McLemee
- 2013.01.16. Thoughts on Zoe Lofgren's CFAA Bill: A Great First Step by Jennifer Granick
- 2013.01.16. Anger at Swartz's prosecutors is valid. Anger at the federal justice system in which they acted is needed by Natasha Lennard
- 2013.01.16. 'Aaron was killed by the government' - Robert Swartz on his son's death
- 2013.01.16. Not just an Academic question: Why Open Access matters for public libraries by Hugh Rundle
- 2013.01.16. Beyond Aaron Swartz: We Don’t Need Martyrs … But Changes by Danah Boyd
- 2013.01.16. On Aaron Swartz: Looking Forward by Timothy Karr
- 2013.01.16. I support 'Aaron's Law' -- for now: Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren proposes an amendment to the computer fraud law in honor of Aaron Swartz. I support it, though not unconditionally.
- 2013.01.16. Petition asking MIT to apologize for pursuing Aaron Swartz; hackerspaces contributing to projects Aaron worked on by Cory Doctorow
- 2013.01.16. Why the Net grieves Aaron Swartz by David Weinberger
- 2013.01.17. Opening arguments in the court of public opinion after Aaron Swartz’ death by Nate Anderson
- 2013.01.17. Aaron Swartz and the battle for Open Access by Lauren O'Neil
- 2013.01.17. U.S. Attorney Defends Decision To Charge Aaron Swartz In MIT Hacking Scandal
- 2013.01.17. Still More About The Death Of Aaron Swartz by Charles P. Pierce
- 2013.01.17. Setting the record straight on Aaron Swartz's contributions by Glenn Fleishman
- 2013.01.17. Learning From Aaron Swartz: Content Must Not Be The End Game For Knowledge by Glyn Moody
- 2013.01.17. Aaron Swartz and the Corrupt Practice of Plea Bargaining by Timothy B. Lee
- 2013.01.17. EFF's Initial Improvements to Aaron's Law for Computer Crime Reform By Cindy Cohn and Mark M. Jaycox and Marcia Hofmann
- 2013.01.18. The Prosecution of Aaron: A Response to Orin Kerr by James Boyle
- 2013.01.18. A time for silence by Lawrence Lessig
- 2013.01.18. The political consequences of academic paywalls by Sarah Kendzior
- 2013.01.18. Aaron Swartz’s suicide shows the risk of a too-comfortable Internet by Ivor Tossell
- 2013.01.18. Is this the revolt? by The Library Loon
- 2013.01.18. The Death of Aaron Swartz by Peter Singer and Agata Sagan
- 2013.01.18. Aaron Swartz and Prosecutorial Discretion by Lincoln Caplan
- 2013.01.18. Aaron Swartz girlfriend blames suicide on 'vindictiveness' of prosecution by Amanda Holpuch
- 2013.01.18. The Obama Administration’s Inspector Javert Speaks: Ortiz Issues Statement In Swartz Case by Jonathan Turley
- 2013.01.18. Aaron Swartz's Internet activism and the freedom to connect by Amy Goodman
- 2013.01.18. A tribute to Aaron Swartz by Mari Marcel Thekaekara
- 2013.01.18. A time for silence by Lawrence Lessig
- 2013.01.18. Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out: Congress prepares to slap down prosecutors linked to the suicide of Aaron Swartz by Scott Horton
- 2013.01.18. 'Aaron's Law' could have unintended consequences: Tragedy shouldn't undermine protection of private and public property, experts say by Taylor Armerding
- 2013.01.18. 2600 radio tribute to Aaron Swartz by Cory Doctorow
- 2013.01.18. Aaron Swartz and the Two Faces of Power by Ryan Singel
- 2013.01.19. Was Aaron Swartz a Cyber-Criminal or a Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Internet? (Thompson) by Juan Cole
- 2013.01.19. aaronsw by Ed Summers
- 2013.01.19. Aaron Swartz
- 2013.01.19. Hundreds honor activist Aaron Swartz in NYC by Mary Altafer
- 2013.01.19. Edward Tufte was a Proto-Phreaker (#aaronswnyc Part 1) by Eric Hellman
- 2013.01.19. Aaron Swartz memorial evokes strong emotions and political urgency: Friends, family, and colleagues share stories of the activist's life and work by Tim Carmody
- 2013.01.20. Notes as written by Quinn Norton
- 2013.01.20. Aaron Swartz: cannon fodder in the war against internet freedom by John Naughton
- 2013.01.20. Aaron Swartz: a bittersweet memorial by Paul Harris
- 2013.01.20. Internet activist death places spotlight on more open access to information by Michael Geist
- 2013.01.20. Digital evangelists versus the predigital thinkers by Kate Allen
- 2013.01.20. Wikileaks Says Aaron Swartz Was a Possible Source by Anita Li
- 2013.01.20. Aaron Swartz: a bittersweet memorial: Mourners exchange fond memories and angry calls for justice by Paul Harris
- 2013.01.20. Aaron Swartz: A Julian Assange for the academic crowd by Simona Chiose
- 2013.01.20. Anger at Prosecutors Boils Over at Aaron Swartz Memorial by Andre Tartar
- 2013.01.20. At Memorial, Aaron Swartz's Friends Demand Government Be "Held Accountable" For His Death by Jen Chung
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