• by Karl Greenberg , Staff Writer, March 8, 2013

SXSW is remembering Aaron Swartz, the technologist and activist who took his own life while under federal prosecution.The event is free and open to SXSW attendees and everyone else. It's happening at the Austin Convention Center, Ballroom A, this evening at 6:30.

Speakers include Aaron’s friends and colleagues as well as activists working to hold his prosecutors accountable and to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  Audience participation is encouraged, per a release. The RSVP link is https://www.facebook.com/events/140468512787305/

Said Demand Progress executive director David Segal, "Aaron's passing has sparked widespread outrage, and calls for reform of the systems that led to his vicious prosecution -- and ultimately, to his suicide.  We hope that residents of Austin and SXSW alike will join us to celebrate his life and discuss how we can work together to make sure that something positive emerges from this tragedy."

At the time of his suicide Swartz was being prosecuted for downloading too many academic articles from the journal cataloguing site JSTOR -- with decades in prison being held over his head.

Swartz played key roles in developing the RSS feed and the social news site Reddit.  He was also an information freedom and political activist, having worked to start the organizations Creative Commons, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Demand Progress -- the latter having played a critical part in organizing the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).