Thread by @Patticus

10 years ago today @aaronsw took his own life after overly aggressive prosecution.

He invented internet infrastructure.

He defeated the greatest threat the Internet had ever seen.

And you probably don't know who he is.

You should.

Here’s his story 🧵

@aaronsw Aaron lead a life that makes you insecure for binging HBO and YouTube shorts.

- At 14 he helped invent RSS.
- He dropped out of Stanford
- Joined @paulg's first @ycombinator class
- Early team at Reddit

And these aren’t even his big accolades.

We’ll get to those.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator Aaron believed in the Open Internet.

“Patrick, isn’t the internet always open?”

No.

Some people out there want:
- more corporate control
- tighter govt regulations
- a lot more censorship

Aaron was extreme in the other direction.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator Aaron believed research and public records should be free.

Here’s the preamble to his Open Access Manifesto

You probably don’t realize:
- 98% of scientific research is behind a paywall
- ~80% of legal records too

“Patrick, why would that be a problem?”

Let me explain.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator Imagine you’re the scientist key to unlocking an energy breakthrough.

You’re a smarty.

But you need to read a bunch of research.

Well, that research costs $40

*per paper*

You probably can’t afford that, so no free energy.

Here’s an even worse scenario…

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator Imagine you're poor and get arrested.

Did you know that accessing court records for your case costs money?

They’re in the public record.
They’re “owned” by the taxpayers.

But you have to pay for them.

Guess you’ll just go to jail.

This is where Aaron dug in.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator After cashing out from Reddit’s sale, Aaron set his sights on PACER.

PACER's a big ol' database of US court records.

It’s not supposed to make money, but somehow makes $100M+ per year.

Thankfully, Aaron and a group of hacktivists found a hole in the system...

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator PACER was "free" to access at 17 libraries in the US.

All the group needed to do was write a handy Perl script on a thumb drive and plug it in.

They downloaded 2.7M documents and set them free.

When Sacramento library racked up $1.5M in charges, the FBI got involved.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator Thankfully, since access was free and no one was profiting, no felony occurred.

PACER still charges, but a lot of pressure and orgs like @FreeLawProject lead to much cheaper access.

This was just Aaron's warm-up though.

Next came the biggest war in the history of the Internet.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject In 2012 Congress put forward a bill to combat piracy (SOPA/PIPA)

The bill appeared to be a Trojan horse for the govt to take down any website without warning.

All for "copyright protection".

Certain companies loved this.

Open internet advocates went to war.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject In a truly amazing response, Aaron and crew organized hundreds of websites to go completely dark for a day.

You couldn't access Wiki, Reddit, Craigslist.

Even Google blacked out their homepage.

Thankfully, we won.

But then came the fight that ended Aaron’s life.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject Aaron set his sights on releasing the largest academic database out there:

JSTOR

He created a script for mass downloading and hid it on a computer in an MIT storage closet.

He downloaded millions of papers over months.

MIT and JSTOR couldn't catch him.

Then came the Feds.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject MIT and JSTOR obviously didn’t intend for open campus access to be used this way.

But MIT has a hacker culture and acts of rebellion are commonplace.

Aaron got caught though.

US prosecutors took a liking to the case and pushed forward with prosecution.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject Aaron was charged with 13 felonies carrying up to 50 years in prison.

JSTOR asked for the charges to be dropped.

MIT asked for the charges to be dropped.

But US Attorney Carmen Ortiz kept going.

Aaron refused plea deals and due to harsh prison time threats took his own life.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject After his death, Ortiz conceded that she didn’t have enough to show Aaron acted for personal gain (big piece for the charges), nor evidence to support the harshest penalties.

Prosecutors want to win.

I guess lack of evidence doesn’t stop empty threats for a plea.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject Lawrence @lessig sums it up best:

“Somehow, we need to get beyond the ‘I’m right so I’m right to nuke you’ ethic that dominates our time.

That begins with one word: Shame.

One word, and endless tears.”

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject @lessig Aaron wasn’t perfect.

He wasn’t the only person involved in these movements.

But I can’t hold back all the tears when I think of his death.

He’s the one person I’ve met who was the complete embodiment of truth and openness.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject @lessig In an era where truth has jumped from that which frees us to a four-letter word to an amorphous concept, we need more of the pursuit of truth, not less.

It’s not a weapon.

It’s not a liability.

It’s not binary.

It’s progress; and progress shouldn’t be closed.

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject @lessig Anyways.

Just remember people like aaron exist.

You don’t have to agree with what he did. Just know his ideals are important.

We should all try to be more like the best of him.

I leave you with a poem from the founder of the internet @timberners_lee

https://twitter.com/timberners_lee/status/290140454211698689?s=20&t=AUnaJ-l50XuwdrV5a9cLlg

@aaronsw @paulg @ycombinator @FreeLawProject @lessig @timberners_lee To learn more and to join in on Aaron's legacy, check out @AaronSwartzDay.

If you think more people should know Aaron's story, feel free to show the thread some love, as well.

https://twitter.com/Patticus/status/1613218956122198032