[1st-mile-nm] Fwd: Baller Herbst List: RIP Aaron Schwartz

[Richard Lowenberg]

 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


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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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