Aaron
Biella explores the legacy of Aaron Swartz's life and tragic death on the hacker community.
Biella explores the legacy of Aaron Swartz. From the age of 14, Aaron was a prolific hacker, inventor and activist. He was integral in the creation of Creative Commons and the Internet Archive, co-founder social media site Reddit, and was passionate in his activism work that culminated in the dismissal of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the USA. But Aaron took his own life at the age of 26 when he was charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, facing decades in prison and millions of dollars in fines - a court case that many at the time felt was completely unjustified.
Biella speaks with Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig who worked with Aaron on the Creative Commons project, and a Lisa Rein, co-founder of 鈥楢aron Swartz Day鈥� that works to carry on projects started or inspired by Aaron鈥檚 work, and discusses why it鈥檚 important to remember Aaron鈥檚 story, the legacy of his work, and to find out if a recent Supreme Court ruling on the CFAA means that people like Aaron may be safer in the future.
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Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Prior to returning to Harvard, he taught at Stanford Law School, where he founded the Center for Internet and Society, and at the University of Chicago.聽He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.
Lessig is the founder of Equal Citizens and a founding board member of Creative Commons, and serves on the Scientific Board of AXA Research Fund. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, he has received numerous awards including a Webby, the Free Software Foundation's Freedom Award, Scientific American 50 Award, and Fastcase 50 Award.
Cited by聽The New Yorker聽as 鈥渢he most important thinker on intellectual property in the Internet era,鈥� Lessig's current work addresses 鈥渋nstitutional corruption鈥濃�攔elationships which, while legal, weaken public trust in an institution鈥攅specially as that affects democracy.
His books are:聽They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy听(2019),听Fidelity & Constraint: How the Supreme Court Has Read the American Constitution听(2019),听America, Compromised听(2018),听Republic, Lost v2听(2015),听The USA is Lesterland听(2014),听One Way Forward听(2012),听Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress鈥攁nd a Plan to Stop It听(2011),听Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy听(2008),听Code v2听(2006),听Free Culture听(2004),听The Future of Ideas聽(2001), and聽Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace听(1999).
Lessig holds a BA in economics and a BS in management from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in philosophy from Cambridge University, and a JD from Yale.聽 聽聽
Lisa Rein
She tells us about how she met Aaron in the early days of 'Creative Commons' and discusses how Aaron Swartz Day and Hackathon seeks to continue Aaron's legacy through collective open source development.
Broadcast
- Fri 17 Dec 2021 13:45麻豆社 Radio 4
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The Hackers
Gabriella Coleman investigates one of the most misunderstood cultures of the modern world.
