About a week and a half ago, Internet activist Aaron Swartz took his own life, as he faced criminal charges in connection with the alleged systematic downloading of files from JSTOR, with intent to distribute. Charges were dropped by the Justice Department following his death.
Swartz’ family blamed his death on the justice system, and Anonymous hacked MIT in his honor (he had allegedly used MIT networks for the downloading his legal case dealt with).
Over the weekend, WIkiLeaks tweeted that it believes Swartz was one of its sources, but can’t prove it due to its anonymity policy.
1. Aaron Swartz assisted WikiLeaks #aaronwartz (1/3)
2. Aaron Swartz was in communication with Julian Assange, including during 2010 and 2011
3. We have strong reasons to believe, but cannot prove, that Aaron Swartz was a WikiLeaks source. #aaronswartz
WikiLeaks mentioned Swartz again in a tweet on Monday:
#Swartz, #Manning & #Assange: Online activists and exemplary punishment | Crikey http://t.co/m0lWWGTj donate: http://t.co/bz4O9bjF
