The concept of copyright laws and intellectual property has been a major topic of discussion recently in regards to the case of Aaron Swartz. Swartz, one of the co-founders of the immensely popular website known as Reddit.com, has long been known as a major advocate for greater freedom in regards to the sharing of information. In July 2011 however, his activity in this area became the cause of much controversy, as he came into conflict with the law. Authorities claimed that Swartz had illegally gained access to JSTOR, a subscription service for scientific and scholarly articles, and had used this access to download millions of pages of material. It is widely believed that he intended to publicly distribute these documents as part of his quest for greater intellectual freedom. Facing a possible sentence of 35 years in prison, along with a potential $1 million fine, Swartz committed suicide in January of 2013. In light of this tragedy, many are calling for reform in the area of intellectual copyright laws, as a way to honor Swartz’s legacy and continue the fight he started. It would be interesting to look further into this event, examining the debates that are currently taking place as a result of it. In addition, it would be beneficial to conduct some historical research into the area of intellectual property on the internet  to see if similar controversies have occurred.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/technology/aaron-swartz-internet-activist-dies-at-26.html?_r=0