Knowra Aaron Swartz Aaron Swartz Aaron Swartz (1986–2013) was an American computer programmer, writer, and internet activist who helped create RSS and Reddit and campaigned for open access to information.
Tim Berners-Lee : A British computer scientist who invented the World Wide Web and led its development. Berners-Lee invited Swartz to help develop RSS, an early collaboration in Swartz’s internet career.
RSS : A family of web-feed formats that lets publishers distribute frequently updated content. Swartz helped develop RSS 1.0 as a teenager, making syndication a defining part of his technical work.
Open access : The free, online availability of scholarly research, usually with rights for reuse and redistribution. Swartz made open access a central cause, opposing barriers that kept publicly funded research behind paywalls.
JSTOR : A digital library that provides access to scholarly journals, books, and primary sources. Swartz downloaded JSTOR articles from MIT’s network, an act central to his federal prosecution.
Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto : A 2008 text by Aaron Swartz arguing that scholarly knowledge should be freely shared. The manifesto states the uncompromising access ethic that shaped Swartz’s later activism.
Lawrence Lessig : An American legal scholar and political activist known for work on copyright and internet governance. Lessig mentored Swartz and later became a prominent public voice after his death.
Reddit : An online platform where users submit, discuss, and rank links and posts. Swartz helped develop Reddit after his company Infogami merged with it in 2005.
PACER : The United States federal judiciary’s online system for accessing court records. Swartz helped download millions of PACER documents, challenging fees and access limits on public records.
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act : A United States federal law criminalizing unauthorized access to computers and certain related conduct. Prosecutors charged Swartz under the CFAA, prompting criticism of the law’s breadth and penalties.
Information wants to be free : A slogan expressing the idea that digital information tends to circulate beyond attempts to restrict it. Swartz’s campaigns embodied this slogan while exposing conflicts between sharing and copyright control.
Show all 30