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When Meta illegally trains its AI models on 80+ TB of pirated books
When Meta illegally trains its AI models on 80+ TB of pirated books from LibGen and two other platforms, it’s called ‘fair use’, without having to pay penalties / receive some form of legal punishment, as proceedings are ongoing since 2023. When Aaron Swartz downloaded 70 GB of articles from JSTOR in 2010 he was facing a $1 million fine and 35 years in jail, before taking his own life in 2013.
November 8, 1986
Highland Park, Illinois, U.S.
Died January 11, 2013 (aged 26)
New York City, U.S.
Cause of death Suicide by hanging
Swartz’s actions were motivated by his belief in open access to knowledge, a principle he championed throughout his career. He had previously been involved in campaigns against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), where he helped organize a massive online protest that included major websites like Wikipedia going dark to oppose the legislation.
His efforts to make academic research freely available were seen by many as a noble pursuit, though they were legally contested.
Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig noted that JSTOR had been asked how much it would cost to make its content globally accessible, with a response of $250 million, highlighting the financial barriers to open access.
"WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU COULD BE WORKING ON IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW? ... AND IF YOU'RE NOT WORKING ON THAT, WHY AREN'T YOU?" ~ AARON SWARTZ, 1986 - 2013
comments:
“They can’t suicide all of us!”
Aaron Swartz, an American computer programmer, writer, political organizer, and Internet activist, was involved in a high-profile incident concerning JSTOR, a digital repository that archives academic journal articles.
In late 2010 and early 2011, Swartz used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) network to download a large number of academic journal articles from JSTOR.
He accessed the database through a Harvard University research fellowship account and MIT’s open campus network, which allowed authorized users to access JSTOR.
According to federal authorities, Swartz downloaded approximately 4.8 million articles, with about 1.7 million available through JSTOR’s Publisher Sales Service.
The MIT network administration reported that around 70 gigabytes of data were downloaded, 98% of which came from JSTOR.
His suicide was a tragedy for the world, on par with Alan Turing. The coporations and lawyers involved in prosecuting him will never face justice, much less understand what they took from us.
A lot of the research papers published in JSTOR is funded or subsidized by tax payer dollars. What should be a public record is monetized and gatekept.
When I first saw the The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz first time in 2016, it was hurtful to see what institutions did to Aaron, a person who just wanted the information / knowledge to be open. World lost real and true internet spirit with him.
Aaron Swartz was a co-founder of Reddit, not its sole inventor. He helped create the platform through the merger of his project, Infogami, with Reddit in 2005, which led to him being recognized as a co-founder.
Guerilla Open Access Manifesto by Aaron Swartz
American Library Association gives #MIT Libraries the middle finger
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