Aaron Swartz: bandido ou herói do acesso aberto?

Abstract

The editorial analyzes the role of Aaron Swartz, an activist and technological innovator, by downloading millions of journal articles from the JSTOR database. JSTOR withdrew the complaint against Swartz after he returned the digital archives of the articles. However, the process did not stop there, as the judiciary decided that the accused should still be held responsible for his actions in court. It is possible that this trial led to the suicide of the 26-year-old. At the present time, during the terrible covid-19 pandemic, rapid and universal access to scientific information is hindered by current copyright legislation. To beat the coronavirus, it is vital that more research and data are made available to the public. It can be said that, after the covid-19, nothing will be the same as before. Scientific communication will also undergo reforms and, gradually, the young activist will be considered a hero of open access! In addition, the articles published in the second issue of 2020 of the Ibero-American Journal of Information Science are commented.