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Aaron Swartz is an important actioner person who had made significant contributions to the development and democratization of the Internet, thus earning the nickname of the Internet’s Own Boy. In addition to being a genius computer cod programmer, he was also a good entrepreneur and writer with his other features that we will talk about shortly. However, especially in the last period of his short life, Aaron Swartz became more known for his action-oriented activist aspect. Aaron played an important role in the creation of the most used web technologies such as RSS and Reddit which are well known to those familiar with the internet and programming world. Along with this, Aaron Swartz had fought for social justice, civil liberties and open access to information.
He had also fought against censorship, corruption and inequality on the internet. Inspiring many people with his passion, creativity and courage even before his death, Swartz continues to inspire especially young people with his principles after his suicide, which shocked the internet environment and almost all the world. As writer team, we always try to support to those people who care about their personal development by learning about the lives and thoughts of inspiring and important people such as Aaron Swartz, Noah Harari or Martin Luther King etc. In this context, instead of telling the lives of such important people in chronological order, we pay attention to emphasize their views, beliefs and contributions to humanity without boring you.
Life Story of Aaron Swartz
Born in 1986 in Highland Park, Illinois, Swartz drew attention with his interest and talent in computers, the internet and programming at an early age. At the age of 12, he won the Ars Digita Award for creating an online encyclopaedia with user-entered information that could be considered the ancestor or one of the first versions of Wikipedia today. Later, at the age of 14, he gained attention for his serious contributions to RSS, a web feed format that allows users to subscribe to updates from their websites. Then, the Internet’s Own Boy, Aaron Swartz, at the age of 16, joined the development team of Creative Commons which is an organization that provides free licenses to share and reuse creative works. Accordingly, at the age of 19, he became one of the founders of Reddit, a social news site where users can vote and comment on content from various sources.
Swartz didn’t just create successful web products. Alongside these achievements, he wanted to use his skills and knowledge to make a positive and useful impact on the world for the humanity. In this respect, he is still remembered as an important activist and continues to inspire especially young people. Genius child Aaron Swartz believed that knowledge should be freely available to everyone. In line with this, Aaron Swartz had taken part in many projects and campaigns aimed at achieving these goals. For example, he had helped launch Open Library which is a website that provides access to millions of books online. Moreover, he also helped found Watchdog.net, a website that allows citizens to monitor the activities of government representatives. Furthermore, he also contributed significantly to the formation of Demand Progress, a political action group that campaigns for the internet and civil rights.
35 Years in Prison Fair?
Aaron Swartz believed that the contents of libraries should be available to the all public. In this context, one of his most notable actions was his attempt to download millions of academic articles from a paid digital library called Jstor. Aaron illegally downloaded articles from this library from starting the year 2010 using a laptop connected to the MIT network. During this act he was caught by the authorities in 2011. If he was found guilty, he had could face up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
It was not fair for such a genius young man to receive this punishment while so many criminals were walking freely in the world. The worst part is that he was also aware of this situation. Clearly someone was unhappy with his actions and wanted to silence him.
Views and Actions of Aaron
Swartz’s trial caused great public reaction and controversy. World public opinion is almost divided over his ideas and actions. Many saw him as a hero trying to save knowledge from institutional greed and academic elitism. Others saw him as a criminal who stole intellectual property and broke the law. However, it is clear that; Aaron Swartz’s goal was not to profit from the articles he downloaded, but to make information public for everyone.
Arrested for his illegal activities, Swartz’s legal battles destroyed him mentally and financially. Depression and anxiety which he had been struggling with since childhood, reached peak level in this period. Although he spent all his savings up to this period on the expenses of lawyers, unfortunately he could not change the imprisonment decision of the court. Accordingly, he refused to sign the deal, which was offered to him by the prosecution, requiring six months in prison in exchange for confessing his guilt. Instead, he insisted on going to court and proving his innocence.
However, Swartz, the Internet’s Own Boy, did not get a chance to defend himself in court. He was found dead in his New York Brooklyn apartment on January 11, 2013, at the age of 26, where he hanged himself with a belt.
How Aaron Swartz die?
Swartz’s death shocked many people around the world. After his death, his family, friends and supporters have honoured his memory with deep respect and sorrow. Furthermore, his sad suicide caused serious public reactions against the American State within the scope of freedoms. People have criticized the government for making such drastic accusations against him and for driving him into suicide. All other activists have demanded justice for Aaron Swartz and called for necessary reform actions in the legal system and the academic publishing industry. Unfortunately, strong claims are still being made that he had some problems in the past in his short life and that the heavy accusations against him drove him to suicide.
Even many years have passed since his death today Swartz’s legacy lives on through his work and ideas. The codes, writings, speeches and projects he wrote are still available to the public and available online. Aaron fought for open access to information for all and had that vision of a shared, free and open internet. At this point, it can be said that although he is no longer with us, his curious, creative and courageous spirit still guides many people who try to follow him.
