Aaron Swartz among inductees to Internet Hall of Fame
The Internet Hall of Fame Wednesday announced its 2013 inductees. Thirty-two tech luminaries will be honored at the second annual event to take place Aug. 3.
Among the pioneers inducted was the late Aaron Swartz, who co-authored an early version of Rich Site Summary (RSS) and was an early architect of Creative Commons. Swartz, who was known to shy away from the spotlight, came to international attention following the news of his suicide in January.
In speaking with CBSNews.com about his son being honored, Bob Swartz said, "We're humbled and honored by the award."
Swartz became a pivotal figure for advocates of public access to information because of a legal battle that stemmed from Swartz posting federal court documents online for free. The charges were posthumously dismissed.
"He decided his life to make the world a better place and making knowledge available to everyone by making open access to the Internet," Swartz said. "He was a tireless activist."
The Internet Society's Hall of Fame has three categories: Pioneers Circle, Innovators and Global Connectors. The organization makes a call for nominations annually, and a board of directors screens the nominees and makes the final selection.
Other 2013 inductees included Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia; Bob Metcalfe, who invented the Ethernet; and Marc Andreessen, who co-founded Netscape. Last year, the Hall of Fame inducted Vint Cerf, Al Gore and Tim Berners-Lee, among others.
The ceremony was originally to be held in Instanbul, Turkey, but event organizers worried about the unpredictable environment due to recent government protests there, and switched the venue to Berlin. A full list of inductees is posted at the Internet Hall of Fame website.
Pioneers Circle
David Clark, David Farber, Howard Frank, Kanchana Kanchanasut, J.C.R. Licklider (posthumous), Bob Metcalfe, Jun Murai, Kees Neggers, Nii Narku Quaynor, Glenn Ricart, Robert Taylor, Stephen Wolff and Werner Zorn
Innovators
Marc Andreessen, John Perry Barlow, Anne-Marie Eklund Lowinder, Francois Fluckiger, Stephen Kent, Henning Schulzrinne, Richard Stallman, Aaron Swartz (posthumous) and Jimmy Wales
Global Connectors
Karen Banks, Gihan Dias, Anriette Esterhuysen, Steven Goldstein, Teus Hagen, Ida Holz, Qiheng Hu, Haruhisa Ishida (posthumous), Barry Leiner (posthumous) and George Sadowsky
