Do we understand yet? A bit more.

Larissa McFarquhar's  largely sympathetic New Yorker  article (3/11/'13, p.48+)  on Aaron Swartz's suicide is worth reading; it helps solve some of the many puzzles about how Swartz thought about his life, the world, the future of the internet, and personal relationships. The article includes copious quotes from his father and many friends, posts from his blog -"Stealing is wrong.  But downloading isn't stealing." (p.56), and additional backstory - he had previously hacked Westlaw and PACER databases without consequences - and  "At M.I.T. hacking was a tradition ... rarely punished." (p.51).