The New Yorker Launches Strongbox, an Open-Source Anonymous Tip Tool Built by Aaron Swartz

The timely idea: Let journalists and their sources connect in confidence. The Associated Press might have liked one of these.
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WikiLeaks Alleges Relationship With Web Activist Aaron Swartz

The whistle-blowing organization surfaces new claims of ties to the late Web activist.
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Happy Internet Freedom Day, Y’all

It’s the first anniversary of the online protests against SOPA and PIPA.
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Amid Activist Outcry, U.S. Attorney Defends Prosecution of Aaron Swartz

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz speaks out for the first time since Aaron Swartz’s death.
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News Byte

Congresswoman to Propose Computer Crimes Amendment in Wake of Activist’s Death

Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) plans to introduce a bill to Congress that would severely curtail the “broad scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” the congresswoman announced Tuesday evening. The CFAA enabled the U.S. government to levy steep fines and a potential lengthy prison sentence against Internet activist Aaron Swartz for his alleged computer crimes, a course of action which some have claimed contributed to Swartz’s recent suicide. Swartz’s death sparked a widespread outrage among the Web community, causing many to call for reform of the Justice Department’s computer-hacking laws.

News Byte

DOJ Drops Charges Against Late Activist Aaron Swartz

In a filing on Monday, the Department of Justice dropped the charges against Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who committed suicide on Friday. As first reported by The Hill, dropping charges against a deceased defendant is standard practice. In a statement on Saturday, Swartz’s family blamed prosecutorial zealotry, in part, for Swartz’s death.

In Wake of Activist’s Death, Anonymous Hacks MIT Website

The hacker group retaliates against the organization involved, in part, in the young activist’s criminal prosecution.
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MIT Responds to Death of Activist Aaron Swartz, Begins Internal Investigation

The President of MIT responds publicly for the first time since news of Swartz’s suicide was made public.
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Family of Hacktivist Aaron Swartz Accuses MIT, U.S. Attorney of Contributing to His Suicide

Strong, damning words from the family of a deceased Internet activist, placing much of the blame on his persecutors.
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News Byte

Reddit Co-Founder Aaron Swartz Has Died

Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who co-founded social news website Reddit and political action committee Demand Progress, committed suicide in New York City on Friday. He was 26. Swartz, who suffered from depression, was facing charges for illegally downloading 4.8 million documents from the academic archive JSTOR. He was beloved in information activist circles and beyond, and already a number of eulogies to him have popped up online — among them pieces by Stanford law professor Larry Lessig, Metafilter founder Matt Haughey, BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow and Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive.