2026-09-13 08:15 UTC
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AARON SWARTZ (1986–2013) was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist. A co-founder of Reddit, a co-creator of the RSS web feed format, and a primary architect of Creative Commons, Swartz possessed a rare technical genius matched by an unwavering moral compass. He is rightly credited as a martyr and a prodigy, especially in our community, and much of his work focused on civic awareness and progressive activism.
#AaronSwartz
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@appassionato@mastodon.social 2026-09-13 08:16
2/ He was inducted posthumously into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2013. On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested by MIT police after connecting a computer to the university's network in an unlocked closet and setting it to download a large number of academic journal articles from JSTOR. He was charged with two counts of wire fraud and eleven violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, carrying a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, #AaronSwartz