[1st-mile-nm] Fwd: Baller Herbst List: RIP Aaron Schwartz
Richard Lowenberg
rl at 1st-mile.com
Sun Jan 13 14:15:58 PST 2013
From Jim Baller:
As you may have heard, Aaron Schwartz, 26, committed suicide on January
11, exactly two years from the date on which he was arrested for
allegedly downloading, with intent to distribute without charge, PDF
copies of thousands of academic papers from the digital library JSTOR.
Tributes to Aaron are appearing across the world, and many prominent
thought leaders are condemning the overzealous prosecution of Aaron’s
actions as a crime, particularly one carrying a potential prison term
of up to 35 years. See, e.g., Larry Lessig, Cory Doctorow, Doc Searls,
Alex Stamos (expert witness), etc.
I did nott know Aaron well, but I’d like to share an experience with
him that had a profound impact on me. Several years ago, I had the
honor of participating in a 3‑day retreat with some of the most
accomplished leaders in the communications field around the world.
Aaron was one of the participants. Just 19 at the time, he had already
made tremendous contributions to the Internet. Among other things, when
he was 14 years old, he had co‑written the specification for RSS.
During the first two days of retreat, we discussed the strengths and
weaknesses of communications systems in the US and elsewhere, and we
mused about what we might have done better if we had started the
previous decade with the knowledge that we had now come to have. On the
last morning, each of us had 30 seconds to summarize our main
impressions. Aaron had not said much during the first two days, so the
rest of us were particularly eager to hear what he would say.
When Aaron’s turn arrived, he said that his main takeaway was surprise
to have learned that the United States might not necessarily develop the
advanced communications infrastructure necessary to support the
applications that he and his colleagues were busily writing. He and
they had simply assumed, apparently incorrectly, that they and users of
their applications would always have open and affordable access to all
the bandwidth that they might need.
As Dr. Benjamin Spock once said, “Our greatest responsibility is to be
good ancestors.” As Aaron’s words vividly reinforced for me, we
Americans have a duty to do all that we can to provide our young people
the tools they need to be innovative, productive, and successful in the
increasingly competitive global economy.
Since that day, in my work products, speeches, and other presentations,
I have often shared Aaron’s insights, and his words have always
resonated with my audiences. Let’s honor Aaron’s passing by doing
whatever it takes to ensure that all Americans have ready access to as
many world-class communications networks as possible as rapidly as
possible.
Rest in peace, Adam.
Jim Baller
Baller Herbst Law Group, PC
2014 P Street, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 833-1144
www.Baller.com
---------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg, Executive Dir.
1st-Mile Institute, 505-603-5200
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
www.1st-mile.com rl at 1st-mile.com
---------------------------------
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