Aaron Swartz Death Sparks Discussion: Should Academic Publishing Be Accessible To All? (VIDEO)

WATCH: Should Academic Publishing Be Accessible To All?

Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz committed suicide Friday after well over a year of fighting charges he downloaded nearly 5 million academic journal articles without authorization.

Swartz was accused of attempting to publicly release academic papers from the digital library JSTOR, which potentially could have sent him to jail for more than 35 years. His death rippled through the world of academia and brought to light the debate over whether academic publishing should be accessible to all.

The world of academic publishing is complicated and not always in the best interests of the academic or the public who has to pay to access articles.

Jessica Richman, John Willinsky and Sarah Kendzior discuss this topic with Marc Lamont Hill in the video above.

Before You Go

Quinn Norton, Freelance Journalist And Swartz's Close Friend

Remembering Aaron Swartz

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