An incredible soul died by his own hand
Despairing that the system could be set right
To allow justice to reign over the land
Free access to information- this was his fight
A true genius who at the age of fourteen
Helped develop Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
Which created order in the Internet Stream
In a manner demonstrating elegant finesse.
He believed in and fought for the right of all to access
That body of creative legacy in a free and unfettered way
And that there should be no barriers or undue stress
And that our intellectual heritage should not be taken away.
When the internet was threatened by the SOPA law
He responded with alacrity to save the prize
Because with the loss of internet freedom he saw
That Internet access would be severely compromised.
And he initially failed as the bill was carefully written
By the manipulative hand of Senator Chris Dodd
And slid through the clueless congress unsmitten
In the interests of Hollywood.
But thanks to Senator Ron Dryden it was put on hold
Allowing Aaron and the internet community to raise the banner
And the response of the many – the people most bold
Erupted and turned the tables in a definitive manner
Yes the support for SOPA vanished overnight
And the tables were turned white became black
And the politicians reversed themselves in fright
But Aaron warned that they will be back
JSTOR’s digitized repository of papers and books
Contains archives of scientific thought going
Back to the enlightenments- Aaron took a look
And decided these were worth knowing.
That they should be part of the commons for all free
Since many were reproduced with taxpayer monies
And because they represented mankind’s cientific legacy
He strongly felt they should be widely studied
We live in the information age
Where those controlling information have power
And those without access are at a huge disadvantage
And Aaron figured out how to make the system cower
Aaron did not hack MIT’s JSTOR data base
For MIT actively encouraged an open policy
Permitting downloading files on campus from any place
And this is what Aaron did with tenacity
For in effect you see it’s like a library card
For each and every file he had a right
To store on his computer discs most hard
And the magnitude of the dump is now the fight
For in order to recover this data precious
He found an unlocked portal and parked
His MacBook Pro churning voracious
On into the night in the dark
Later when caught with bike, backpack and hard drives
The federal prosecutor, Carmen Ortiz,
Although JSTOR settles without pressing charges
Pursues a trial with multiple felonies
With a potential million dollar fine and 35 year of jail
Prosecutors offer a plea bargain of 6 months where we see
The system outrageously fail
For bullying with heaped charges is not justice but jeopardy
For this is how the criminal criminal justice system functions
By adding on draconian charges so that even innocents
Accept the plea rather than risk conviction
For in an unjust system this makes common sense
But this is not justice
It is a cynical criminal system that saves court costs
And deprives defendants of due process
And diminishes our concept of laws
Aaron said “I don’t want to be happy I just want to change the world”
And he used his great intellect working for access to information unfettered
Humanity is better off for all of his efforts
For truly he spent his time and energies working on things that mattered
He lived and like we all do knew the bleakness of depression
“Depressed mood is like that, only it does not come for any reason
And it doesn’t go for any either”
However, his depression was rational considering the prosecutor’s actions
Notes: Incredible Soul –Lawrence Lessig
Everyone has a breaking point
Aaron’s 2007 Blog on Depression
“Surely there have been times when you have been sad
Perhaps a loved one has abandoned you or a plan gone terribly awry.
Your face falls, perhaps you cry
You feel worthless. You wonder whether it’s worth going on
Everything you think of feels bleak—the things you’ve done
The things you hope to do, the people around you.
You want to lie in bed and keep the lights off.
Depressed mood is like that, only it doesn’t come for any reason
And it doesn’t go for any either.”
Source: Democracy Now—several articles.
HP Charman MD 1-20-2013