<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Marco Berlinguer</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:marco.berlinguer@gmail.com">marco.berlinguer@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 2:01 AM<br>Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Aaron Schwarz and Wikileaks<br>To: Networked Labour <<a href="mailto:networkedlabour@lists.contrast.org">networkedlabour@lists.contrast.org</a>><br><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div>Aaron Schwarz: a sweet, smart, brave person.<br></div>Let's not forget him, ever.<br><br><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">nettime's anonymous source</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nettime@kein.org" target="_blank">nettime@kein.org</a>></span><br>Date: 2015-12-06 10:27 GMT+01:00<br>Subject: <nettime> Aaron Schwarz and Wikileaks<br>To: <a href="mailto:nettime-l@mx.kein.org" target="_blank">nettime-l@mx.kein.org</a><br><br><br><br>
<a href="http://www.aaronswartzday.org/jacobappelbaum-2015/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.aaronswartzday.org/jacobappelbaum-2015/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
Lisa: Ladies and Gentlemen, Jacob Appelbaum.<br>
<br>
Jacob: First of all, thank you so very much for having me tonight. It’s<br>
actually really difficult that I can’t be there in person, and I wish<br>
that I could be. And, when Lisa asked me to speak tonight, I actually<br>
didn’t feel that I had something to say until I sat down and wrote a<br>
text. So, I’m just going to read you a text, and as a result I’m going<br>
to cover my camera because there’s nothing worse than watching someone<br>
read. So, as you can see there, it’s just a bright white light, and now<br>
I’m going to read you this text, and I hope that you can still hear me.<br>
<br>
[Crowd chanting “We want Jake!”]<br>
<br>
Jacob: (Laughing)<br>
<br>
Lisa Rein: Jacob, come back on camera, please. Don’t do it, Jake.<br>
<br>
Jacob: I’m sorry. It has to be this way. That’s how it has to be, I’m<br>
sorry, but here we go.<br>
<br>
Lisa: It’s okay. No, no, no!<br>
<br>
Jacob: You can’t fucking be serious. [laughing] Terrible.<br>
<br>
Lisa: Jacob, please. Thank you. (Jesus Christ.)<br>
<br>
Jacob: Look, I want to see all of you, too, but we don’t get what we<br>
want so I’m going to read you this text now.<br>
<br>
The first time that I heard Aaron Swartz speak in person was at the<br>
Creative Commons release party in San Francisco.<br>
<br>
Lisa: Jacob, we’re going to turn it [the podium laptop] around.<br>
<br>
Jacob: I was working the door as a security guard, if you can believe<br>
that. I think it was in December of 2002. Meeting people in that<br>
seemingly weird world mutated life in a good way. Over the years, we<br>
crossed paths many times, be it discussions relating to CodeCon, to age<br>
limits, or free software, or the Creative Commons, or about crypto, or<br>
any other topic. Aaron was an insightful, hilarious, and awesome person.<br>
<br>
Aaron and I worked on a few different overlapping projects and I very<br>
much respected him. Some of the topics that came up were light, but some<br>
were very heavy and very serious. The topic of WikiLeaks was important<br>
to both of us. In November of 2009, long before I was public about my<br>
work with WikiLeaks, I introduced Aaron to someone at WikiLeaks who<br>
shall remain unnamed. If we had a secure and easy way to communicate, if<br>
some sort of communication system had existed that had reduced or<br>
eliminated metadata, I probably could’ve done so without a trace. But we<br>
didn’t. You’re not the first to know, the FBI and the NSA already know.<br>
<br>
Less than a year later, Aaron sent me an email that made it clear how he<br>
felt. That email in its entirety was straightforward and its lack of<br>
encryption was intentional. On July 10, 2010, he wrote, “Just FYI, let<br>
me know if there’s anything, ever, I can do to help WikiLeaks.” Did that<br>
email cast Aaron as an enemy of the state? Did Aaron worry?<br>
<br>
2010 was an extremely rough year. The US government against everyone.<br>
The investigation of everyone associated with WikiLeaks stepped up. So<br>
many people in Boston were targeted that it was effectively impossible<br>
to find a lawyer without a conflict. Everyone was scared. A cold wave<br>
passed over everything, and it was followed by hardened hearts from many.<br>
<br>
In February of 2011, a few of us were at a party in Boston hosted by<br>
danah boyd. Aaron and I walked a third person home. A third person who<br>
still wishes to remain unknown. The sense of paranoia was overwhelming,<br>
but prudent. The overbearing feeling of coming oppression was crushing<br>
for all three of us. All of us said that our days were numbered in some<br>
sense. Grand juries, looming indictments, threats, political<br>
blacklisting. None of us felt free to speak to one another about<br>
anything. One of those people, as I said, still wishes to remain<br>
unnamed. We walked through the city without crossing certain areas,<br>
because Aaron was worried about being near the properties that MIT owned.<br>
<br>
When Aaron took his life, I remember being told by someone in San<br>
Francisco, and I didn’t understand. I literally did not understand who<br>
they meant or who it could be. It seemed impossible for me to connect<br>
the words that were coming out of their mouth with my memories.<br>
<br>
Shortly after Aaron was found, WikiLeaks disclosed three facts:<br>
<br>
- Aaron assisted WikiLeaks.<br>
- Aaron communicated with Julian and others during 2010 and 2011.<br>
- And Aaron may have even been a source.<br>
<br>
I do not believe that these issues are unrelated to Aaron’s persecution,<br>
and it is clear that the heavy-handed U.S. prosecution pushed Aaron to<br>
take his own life. How sad that he was abandoned by so many in his time<br>
of need. Is it really the case that there was no link? Is it really the<br>
case that the U.S. prosecutors went after Aaron so harshly because of a<br>
couple of Python scripts and some PDFs? No, clearly not.<br>
<br>
I wish that Aaron had lived, as we all do. This was the year that<br>
brought us the summer of Snowden, and yet it felt like ten years of<br>
grief in a single one. It was the last time I spent any time in the<br>
U.S., and even now it feels like a distant memory, mostly bad memories.<br>
Especially the memory of learning about Aaron.<br>
<br>
Only a few months later, in 2013, there was a New Year’s Eve toast with<br>
many of us who were being investigated, harassed, and targeted for our<br>
work, our associations with WikiLeaks, and for our political beliefs. It<br>
was me that stupidly, stupidly said, “We made it.” But I know it was<br>
Roger, and I remember it well, when he said, “Not all of us.” And he<br>
wasn’t speaking only about Aaron, but him too. And it was heartbreaking<br>
to remember, and it was telling of how to cope. How some try to forget,<br>
and we do forget, and that it is important to remember. Especially right<br>
then and especially right there. Just as it is here, and just as it is<br>
right now.<br>
<br>
When we learned more details about the U.S. prosecutors, we learned that<br>
they considered Aaron a dangerous radical for unspecified reasons. One<br>
of the primary reasons is probably the Guerilla Open Access Manifesto.<br>
This is a good document, and, as many others, I respect it and I admire<br>
it. The Guerilla Open Access Manifesto is not as radical as the U.S.<br>
prosecutors might consider it. But their fear is telling, so let us say<br>
it out loud: We should honor it and we should extend it.<br>
<br>
Let’s not only liberate the documents of the world, let us act in<br>
solidarity to liberate all of humanity. Let us create infrastructure<br>
that resists mass surveillance. Let us enable people to leak documents.<br>
And let us also work to infiltrate those organizations that betrayed us.<br>
There is a division of labor, and we all bring different skills to the<br>
table. Let us all use them in service of a better world, in service of<br>
justice.<br>
<br>
We must have total transparency about the investigation into Aaron. Why<br>
was the Department of Justice grinding their axe with Aaron? Was it<br>
really because of JSTOR and the past anger about PACER? That is absurd<br>
and unbelievable. It is disproportionate and it is unjust.<br>
<br>
One concrete thing that needs to happen is for the FOIA case to be<br>
properly resolved. We must find a way to speed up the processing about<br>
FOIAs regarding Aaron. Rather than hundreds of documents at a time, we<br>
should have all 85,000 at once, and not mediated by MIT, who is<br>
partially responsible for the outcome we have today.<br>
<br>
And we must not drop the pressure. If you are invited to MIT, I<br>
encourage you to decline and to explain that you do so because of MIT’s<br>
treatment of Aaron Swartz. But not just Aaron, but those like Star<br>
Simpson and Bunnie, who MIT would’ve left to be like Aaron, if the cards<br>
had played a little differently.<br>
<br>
Here are some things you can do to support the legacy and spirit of<br>
Aaron. We can support the development of some of Aaron’s projects like<br>
SecureDrop. Kevin, Garrett, Micah, and others are carrying that torch.<br>
We can work with them. They’re still with us today. You can come and<br>
work with many people at the Tor Project on Tor Browser and Tor<br>
Messenger, and other software to be of use to disseminate and to push<br>
out information, important information to people that might have<br>
otherwise not happened without that software. And you can come and help<br>
us make free software for freedom, just as Aaron did.<br>
<br>
And there are other projects that need assistance. OnionShare, Let’s<br>
Encrypt, GlobalLeaks, Pawn[?], Subgraph, Signal, the Transparency<br>
Toolkit, and many more.<br>
<br>
But it isn’t just software. There are so many things that can be done.<br>
You can write to prisoners of conscience of Aaron’s generation, of my<br>
generation, of your generation. Do Jeremy Hammond, Barret Brown, and<br>
Chelsea Manning have to die before we work to correct the injustices<br>
that they face daily? We can and we should free them.<br>
<br>
Here are some things to support each other during the hard times, those<br>
with us now and those sure to come in the future. We should support<br>
WikiLeaks, an organization under attack for publishing information in<br>
the public interest. We should support the EFF. They support people who<br>
are at the edge. We should support the ACLU. When others called Edward<br>
Snowden a traitor, the ACLU gave him legal support. We should support<br>
the Courage Foundation. They are the ones that helped Edward Snowden to<br>
seek and to receive asylum and do the same with others that are directly<br>
under threat today and those under threat tomorrow. And we should<br>
support the Library Freedom Project. They work to educate, to deploy,<br>
and to resist, by deploying alternatives in public spaces for everyone<br>
today. And together, we are already building, deploying, supporting, and<br>
using infrastructure which is not merely a matter of protest, but is an<br>
act of resistance in itself, by being a practical alternative.<br>
<br>
And there is a legal lesson that we actually must learn in a very hard<br>
way, as many communities have learned it already, and it is one where<br>
the lawyers in the audience who represent me are already cringing from<br>
what I’ve said, but they’ll cringe harder next. We must resist grand<br>
juries. We must not bow down. We must band together. And together we can<br>
refuse to be isolated. We must resist it every step of the way, never<br>
giving them anything, ever, at all, when they wish to persecute us for<br>
our political beliefs. And if you feel there is no other choice, drag it<br>
out and make it public.<br>
<br>
Consider that the core of Aaron’s legacy is not simply about information<br>
or about writing software. It is about justice, about fairness, through<br>
transparency, through accountability, through consideration. So then let<br>
us consider our empire and most of all we must consider our complicity.<br>
It is up to us to act and to change things, to fight for the user, but<br>
also to consider the world in which he lives. To think as technologists,<br>
but to think far beyond only the technology and into our common humanity.<br>
<br>
How is this lesson applied to gender and racial inequality? Aaron wasn’t<br>
a bigot; he was thoughtful. He was not a homophobic person; he was<br>
accepting. He wasn’t a racist; he was unprejudiced. Aaron was kind and<br>
compassionate. He fought for free speech. He worked and he supported<br>
your anonymity directly with actions, and he worked to free our<br>
culture’s knowledge. We must be forward-thinking, not just about winning<br>
one or two battles. Not just about one or two legal cases. Rather in a<br>
broader sense, towards a movement of movements. The Internet is a<br>
terrain of struggle and it will help shape all of the other terrains of<br>
struggles to come, and Aaron, Aaron helped to shape that terrain for us,<br>
so that we could shape it for others.<br>
<br>
Part of what Aaron carried was an understanding that it wasn’t just that<br>
something needed to be done. He carried with him the idea that very<br>
specific things needed to happen, and for very good reasons, to benefit<br>
all of those alive and all of those yet to live. He cared deeply about<br>
free software, and he cared deeply about the free culture movement. He<br>
worked to advance many other issues. Let us carry on that work, whatever<br>
the cost, wherever they may take us.<br>
<br>
Aaron was headstrong and hilarious. He was young. Today, he would’ve<br>
been 29. Use your time wisely. May you have more time than him, and may<br>
you use it as wisely as he did.<br>
<br>
Good night.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission<br>
# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,<br>
# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets<br>
# more info: <a href="http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l</a><br>
# archive: <a href="http://www.nettime.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.nettime.org</a> contact: <a href="mailto:nettime@kein.org" target="_blank">nettime@kein.org</a></div><br></div></div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
NetworkedLabour mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:NetworkedLabour@lists.contrast.org">NetworkedLabour@lists.contrast.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour</a><br>
<br></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">http://commonstransition.org</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div></div></div>
</div>