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Friday, January 25, 2013

Remembering Aaron Swartz

I know that Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz's death on January 13th is already reaching the old news phase, but I remembered this video and had to post it.  The fact that an event of the magnitude of Aaron Swartz's death is considered "old news" after only twelve days is a completely different topic.

This video is from Aaron Swartz's keynote "How we stopped SOPA" at the Freedom to Connect conference in Washington DC on May 21 2012.  This was one of his last big, public appearances and he really articulates the struggle that those who want a free and open internet face in today's legislative environment.


I don't know what conclusions we can draw from Aaron's speech, and he may have had a history of being a little bit extreme, but it definitely doesn't mean that we can relax and not stay vigilant in the face of powerful people who don't know how the internet works.

Rest in peace, Aaron.