On January 18, 2012, the Internet went dark. Hundreds of websites went black in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). The bills would have created a “blacklist” of censored websites based on accusations of copyright infringement. SOPA was en route to quietly passing. But when millions of Americans complained to their members of Congress, support for the bill quickly vanished. We called it the Internet at its best.

(2015) Don’t be surprised if at some point in your life, maybe at many points, you find yourself submerged in a darkness that seems infinite and eternal. It might seem to you like it’s always been that way, it will always be that way, and there’s only one way out.

You’re wrong. It will get better. But it will only get better if you find some way to survive.

Aaron constantly asked himself how he could do more to change the world, but on one terrible day, he ended his ability to contribute forever. Don’t do that.

We need you. We need all of us. There’s a lot of work to be done.

Aaron Swartz fought for an Internet grounded in community, creativity, and human rights. By co-creating platforms like RSS, reddit, Creative Commons, and the technology that became SecureDrop, he helped build the tools that make information accessible to all, and in the process, called truth to power while putting power in the hands of the users.

(11.02.2014) In one day, over 71,000 concerned Americans picked up the phone and told their Congress to rein in the NSA. Far more sent emails to their members of Congress. Around the world over 200,000 put their name to a set of founding principles against suspicionless surveillance: by the NSA, by their own governments, by anyone who dares to violate our human rights.

We’ve done more in this single day to pressure the U.S. Congress to reform surveillance law than what months or even years of lobbying to date have accomplished.

We’ve demonstrated our strength. We’ve shown those who want to watch us that the whole world is watching them. (..)

Of course, the battle isn’t over. In some ways it’s just beginning. We’ve proven to lawmakers that we are powerful, united yet diverse, and that we are going to use everything within our means to combat surveillance abuses. But defending freedom online is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ll need to show them, day after day, that we won’t compromise or accept reforms that fall short. And we’ll continue to make every day a day we fight back against mass surveillance—in the courts, in the legislature, and on the Internet.

The late Internet activist Aaron Swartz famously said, when describing how the Internet defeated the SOPA blacklist bill, that: “We won this fight because everyone made themselves the hero of their own story. Everyone took it as their job to save this crucial freedom.”

Aaron’s legacy of fighting for a technological world that supports, rather than undermines, human rights inspired us today. Together, the hundreds of thousands of us that took action in the last twenty four hours, can live up to that legacy. Today, we began to win.

In January 2006, EFF filed our first lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of NSA mass surveillance.

In January 2012, the Internet rose up to protest and defeat SOPA, legislation that sought to censor the Internet in the name of copyright enforcement.

And in January of last year, we lost a dear friend and fierce digital rights advocate, Aaron Swartz. We vowed to defend the rights of Internet users everywhere in his memory.

Last week, when we wrote about the big „day of action“ against the NSA in memory of Aaron Swartz, to be held February 11th, a few folks questioned whether this was an appropriate issue, since they were unaware of Aaron being all that concerned about the NSA. Obviously, Aaron died months before the Snowden leaks, but as many folks who knew Aaron knew, the NSA was absolutely an issue he was quite concerned about even prior to the Snowden leaks. Brian Knappenberger, who has been working to put the finishing touches on his new documentary about Aaron, The Internet‘s Own Boy, in order to debut it at Sundance, has released an astounding trailer of the film (which looks amazing).

On January 11, 2013, federal prosecutors, in an aggressive campaign to bring high-profile convictions against hackers, finally broke the spirit of talented internet activist and technologist Aaron Swartz. Faced with 35 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines, not to mention a long battle with depression, Swartz committed suicide. And with that, one of the great voices of internet activism fell silent.

Aaron Swartz, the computer programmer and internet freedom activist, committed suicide on Friday in New York at the age of 26. As the incredibly moving remembrances from his friends such as Cory Doctorow and Larry Lessig attest, he was unquestionably brilliant but also – like most everyone – a complex human being plagued by demons and flaws.

These are clips and excerpts from interviews featured in the upcoming documentary about Aaron Swartz called „The Internet‘s Own Boy.“ Sadly, Aaron took his own life on January 11th, 2013 after a two year legal battle. These clips show some of his work on SOPA, and his thoughts on the NSA.