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Aaron Swartz

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Swartz's Suicide Prompts Group to Try to Reform Computer Fraud Laws

A week after 26-year-old Highland Park native and internet activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide, his supporters and family are seeking to change the way the government prosecutes the computer crimes he was charged with.

Highland Park native Aaron Swartz, 26, was remembered this week as a brilliant, compassionate mind who inspired friends and family, as well as a victim of unfair treatment by the government. Swartz, who commited suicide Jan. 11, co-created the social news website Reddit and founded Demand Progress, an organization devoted to Internet activism and fighting expanded government oversight of the Internet, according to CNN. Demand Progress is currently looking to mobilize grassroots and political support to "end prosecutorial abuses" and "amend computer fraud law," according to a news release the group sent out earlier this week. Under Aaron's Law, disputes over "terms of service” agreements would fall under the jurisdiction of civil courts, …

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Kaitlyn Hensley

3:21 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013

Sign this petition to make the DOJ accountable for Aaron Swartz death! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/appoint-independent-investigator-subpoena-power-investigate-instances-doj-bullying-extorsion-and/ZrDymCLq   more ›

Armstrong Admits to Doping, Internet Activists Fought for Open Web, Flu Remedies

Patch readers joined our discussions this week from remedies for battling the flu to sharing their thoughts on whether they support internet activists such as Aaron Swartz pushing for a more open web.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Patch Chatter

Do You Support Activists Pushing For An Open Web?

Internet activists such as Highland Park's Aaron Swartz and WikiLeaks' Julian Assange want information freely available on the web. Patch wants to know if you support their actions? Join the discussion in the comment section below.

As an Internet activist, Aaron Swartz fought to make information freely available on the web. The 26-year-old from Highland Park, who committed suicide on Jan. 11, founded Demand Progress, an organization devoted to Internet activism and fought expanded government oversight of the Internet. He also helped create the RSS feed and co-founded the social news website Reddit.  Similarly, Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks, which publishes classified or confidential documents in the name of openness, is still pushing for more of an open web.  Patch wants to know: Do you support activists, such as Swartz and Assange, pushing to make information freely available on the web?  Both Swartz and Assange have landed in trouble with the government …

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beauregard

3:57 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013

ITA. Assanges material public information which is legally due to u.s. citizens thru FOIA. Nobody is entitled to free merchandise (which REALLY) is what was snagged by. The kid.   more ›

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Aaron Swartz: 1986-2013

See Patch's complete coverage of the Highland Park native and Internet activist who, in the midst of a battle with depression and the federal government, took his own life.

Highland Park native Aaron Swartz was remembered as a brilliant, compassionate mind who inspired friends and family alike during a moving funeral service held at Central Avenue Synagogue on Tuesday. The 26-year-old who committed suicide last Friday was also mourned as a victim of unfair treatment by the government.  Swartz co-created the social news website Reddit and founded Demand Progress, an organization devoted to Internet activism and fighting expanded government oversight of the Internet, according to CNN. Considered a prodigy by his peers, parents and professors, Swartz created RSS, a now common web-publishing technology, when he was 14.  "Parents were reading to their kids," Robert said about raising his son, "and Aaron was …

Aaron Swartz Remembered as Internet Activist who Changed the World

Aaron Swartz's funeral was held on Tuesday to a packed crowd in Highland Park, his hometown.

Aaron Swartz’s funeral on Tuesday had two recurring messages — the brilliance and impact on the world that the Internet activist had in his 26 years, and the fault of the government in his death. “Aaron wanted so badly to change the world — more than money, more than fame. … He believed you had to see the world the way it really is in order to change it,” Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Swartz’s partner, said in a speech at the funeral. Swartz, a Highland Park native and North Shore Country Day alum, was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment on Friday in an apparent suicide. Swartz had been an Internet pioneer since high school, when he helped to develop the RSS feed, which allows people to subscribe to online information. He also co-created …

Family, Friends Blame Government for Aaron Swartz's Suicide

Highland Park native and Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide at 26 last Friday, was tormented unfairly by the federal government, according to those who spoke at his funeral on Tuesday.

Highland Park native Aaron Swartz was remembered as a brilliant, compassionate mind who inspired friends and family alike during a moving funeral service held at Central Avenue Synagogue on Tuesday. The 26-year-old who committed suicide last Friday was also mourned as a victim of unfair treatment by the government.  In the packed to capacity chapel, Swartz's academic mentors, his defense attorney and his father lamented the impending trial Swartz was preparing for that they believe contributed to his depression and led to his decision to hang himself in his New York apartment last week. Swartz co-created the social news website Reddit and founded Demand Progress, an organization devoted to Internet activism and fighting expanded government…

Amy Lohmolder

11:52 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

What a sad and tragic loss - for his family, friends and the larger world. He achieved much in a short life that surely will continue to inspire. A bright light shining in many directions...   more ›

Internet Activist Aaron Swartz's Teachers Remember 'Brilliant' Student

The Internet pioneer passed away this weekend in an apparent suicide. He was a student at North Shore Country Day School and grew up in Highland Park. His funeral is Tuesday morning.

Teachers and administrators at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka remember former student Aaron Swartz as extremely intelligent and curious. Swartz, an Internet activist, co-creator of social news website Reddit and founder of Demand Progress, was found dead in an apparent suicide on Friday in his apartment in Brooklyn. He was 26. Swartz grew up in Highland Park and attended North Shore Country Day School through 9th grade. “He was a very creative boy and a very clever and bright child,” said Pam Whalley, head of lower school. “He was always engaged in school work. He loved … the creative opportunities he had here.” Whalley also noted that Swartz demonstrated the ability to tackle complex problems at a young age.  “He was always …

Westboro Baptist Church Threatened to Picket Aaron Swartz's Funeral

The group that came to Skokie in 2010 protest outside the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center said it planned to picket the funeral Highland Park native Aaron Swartz. They didn't show up.

Updated 9:50 p.m. Jan. 15 The church members did not end up coming to the funeral. Original story The Westboro Baptist Church, the group that came to Skokie in 2010 protest outside the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center on Rosh Hashanah, plans to picket Tuesday's funeral of Highland Park native Aaron Swartz, The Chicagoist reports. Swartz, an Internet activist, co-creator of social news website Reddit and founder of Demand Progress, was found dead in an apparent suicide on Friday in his apartment in Brooklyn. He was 26. Patch's full coverage of Aaron Swartz's death An activist for free online content, Swartz got in trouble with the federal government in 2011 when he was indicted for gaining illegal access to a subscription-based …

Dennis Robin

1:21 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

While I do believe that my personal internet files should be kept private, I hope that there are no Federal Agents among these "mishugene" protesters. Respectively,   more ›

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Internet Pioneer Aaron Swartz, 26, Commits Suicide

The Highland Park native helped create the RSS feed when he was 14. He was facing federal charges at the time of his death. His funeral is Tuesday at Central Avenue Synagogue.

Aaron Swartz, a Highland Park native and activist for free content on the Internet, was found dead Friday in his Brooklyn apartment in an apparent suicide, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He was 26. Swartz helped create the RSS feed, which allows people to subscribe to information online, when he was just 14, according to an article in the New York Times. He also helped found Reddit, a social news website. He went on to become an activist for free online content, which landed him in trouble with the federal government in 2011 when he was indicted for gaining illegal access to a subscription-based service that distributes literary and scientific journals and then downloading nearly its entire library CNN quoted a statement from Swartz's…

Steve Handwerker

4:21 pm on Sunday, January 13, 2013

What a shame to lose somebody so creative, smart, selfless, forward-thinking, and young. May his memory be a blessing to us all and a reminder to stand for what we believe in.   more ›

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