Aaron Swartz Memorial Hacknight

Aaron Swartz took his life on Jan 11, 2013.

Aaron was a hacktivist. He helped create RSS 1.0; contributed to Creative Commons; was an early builder of Reddit, where he's often acknowledged as a co-founder; created the web.py framework; and more recently, became a data liberator, first with PACER and then with scholarly articles from JSTOR, both of which got him into trouble with the law.

Aaron's Demand Progress project helped stop SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US, which threatened to have far reaching unintended consequences. Here's a talk Aaron gave in May 2012 on how it happened.

Aaron Swartz is gone, but his work on making the world a better place should not die with him. Join us this Saturday, January 19 for a night of understanding his work and contributing to keep his memory and projects alive. Among the hackers present will be some of Aaron's collaborators who can help you get started.

This is a free event. We'll have a kitchen open all night, but please do bring your own energy drinks and snacks so there is enough to go around. You do not have to be a hacker to contribute and do not have to be present for the entire night. Join us even if just to show solidarity or inspire others on what they can do.

You have to apply via the link in the sidebar, and once your registration is approved, you can join a project or add another. The approval process is a technical limitation and we are working on making it simpler.