Portside

Remembering a pathbreaker for free media

I mourn mostly for those we have killed — and I mourn for those we haven't killed yet, but will in the days ahead.

When the Internet began to take off in the mid-1990’s, it created the opportunity to do something scholars had been dreaming of for millennia — to gather all of the writings of scholars past and present together in a single online public library — a free, globally accessible version of the ancient library in Alexandria. But 20 years on and we are barely any closer to achieving this goal.

Microsoft/Google war; Wiretapping Act extended; Content made to order for advertisers; PBS Nova’s drone cover-up; Telecommunication Companies Hall of Shame Awards; Disabled sue for web shopping access; Web search and email scanning expanded; MIT asked to release all Aaron Swartz documents; Cable news is unbearably white

Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency, announced that the government is forming 13 teams to conduct an international "cyber offensive" to pre-empt or answer "Internet attacks" on this country.

The tragic death of Aaron Swartz, a 26-year-old coder and social activist, has shone a light on the sad truth about America’s misguided computer crime law and the breadth of discretion given to overzealous prosecutors