Aaron Swartz was a pioneering cyberactivist and programmer who took his life on January 11. Nation contributor Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard professor and friend of Swartz, discusses the circumstances of Swartz's legal troubles and suicide on Democracy Now! "In a world where the architects of the financial crisis dine regularly at the White House," Lessig says, "it's ridiculous to think Aaron Schwartz was a felon."

—James Cersonsky

Read Rick Perlstein's tribute to Swartz.