F2C2012: Aaron Swartz keynote - "How we stopped SOPA"

Ben Samuel from the Young Greens sent me this, thank you Ben! Lets make noise to celebrate the life and vision of Aaron who so sadly died.

I am extraordinarily proud of what I achieved whilst I was at University (Nottingham), and Aaron Schwarz' loved ones should be proud of his achievements too. One of those achievements is only really visible in hindsight, after it was revealed how scientific papers are now enclosed within top universities like Nottingham or the M.I.T., and Aaron's act of publishing them was viewed by the security services as unlawful hacking. I was planning to convert to law after my science degree and become an Intellectual Property Professional, but one way or another I rejected this lucrative career to join the Green Party and I eventually found my way towards a green career instead. One day, will it be proven that these priveledged intellectual property professionals have blood on their hands?

It was said on the Lessig blog that the deceased never made a penny out of his work... while our recent policy statement "Make ACTA History" notes the creation of profit out of intellectual property.

The Green Party has global alliances with the Pirate Party, the party political wing of digital activists like Aaron. One of the Green Party, allies is the newly-incorporated Wikimedia UK, sharing an office block with ours. At London Wikimedia's 65th meeting today, I hope supporters of Aaron will be there to mark his passing.

In the spirit of new years resolutions one of my favorite pages to share Aaron's story is https://www.facebook.com/WeAreChange.org

Peter Eckersley, staffer at the EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, posted this on the 12 January (Eastern Standard Time), Our farewell to Aaron Schwartz, an extraordinary hacker and activist https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/farewell-aaron-swartz

One of the first spaces to break the story was far from impartial; the Lessig Blog with the angry title "Prosecutor as Bully", was written only the day after the news. I shared it on my facebook page.

If I know Aaron Schwarz as well as I think I do I think he would have wanted lots of media coverage!

B. Samuel