Exactly 10 years ago today, Aaron Swartz died. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/technology/aaron-swartz-internet-activist-dies-at-26.amp.html) Aaron Swartz was a programmer and hacktivist. He started his career as a programmer at the age of 14 when he was part of the team that developed the RSS standard. At the age of 16 he then founded the company Infogami (https://github.com/infogami/infogami), which later merged with Reddit (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url= https://www.reddit.com/&ved=2ahUKEwiQqI722ML8AhWn7rsIHcZlB9UQjjh6BAgPEAE&usg=AOvVaw2aX35bASD5_Ujf8CW_2QJo) merged. In 2008, Swartz founded Demand Progress (https://demandprogress.org/), a political action group dedicated to defending civil rights online. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was prevented in 2012 through the work of Demand Progress. Swartz was a strong advocate for freedom of information and was accused of stealing millions of scientific and literary articles from JSTOR's paid-subscriber-only service. Swartz faced a long prison sentence and a $1 million fine if convicted. He had downloaded the data using a computer hidden at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (https://www.mit.edu/). Swartz was caught and charged with 14 separate felonies, despite not publishing any of the articles and even though JSTOR said it would not pursue the case any further. A trial began in which prosecutors believed he should have been sentenced to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine. (https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2013-01/aaron-swartz-nachruf/seite-2?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F) Swartz denied the charges and argued that he had merely downloaded the articles for personal and research purposes. However, the process dragged on for several years and Swartz suffered from depression. On January 11, 2013, he took his own life in his New York City apartment. So, understandably, the whole situation took such a toll on him that he took his own life, and all of this happened just because he was committed to making knowledge and education freely available. A really very tragic and sad case, which just proves once again what kind of sick system we actually live in. After his death, Anonymous waged a cyberwar against the US government. (https://www.sueddeutsche.de/digital/nach-suizid-eines-internetaktivisten-anonymous-droht-mit-rache-fuer-tod-von-aaron-swartz-1.1584009) For example, Anonymous also attacked the MIT websites after the death of Internet activist Aaron Swartz (https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/14/anonymous-attack-mit -aaron-swartz), but the US Department of Justice was not spared either. (https://youtu.be/Nk5P98X9OO0) Swartz's death had a major impact on the public and sparked debate about the prosecution of computer crimes. His family and friends have described his death as a result of excessive government prosecution and threats of lengthy prison terms. Swartz was honored after his death for his work and commitment to freedom of information and remains a hero who sadly died far too young. R.I.P Aaron

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