But MIT did not go along, according to Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard professor whom Swartz confided in.

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Another interesting speech was the one of activist and law professor, Lawrence Lessig, who claimed that copyrights hinder innovation and creativity.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Lawrence Lessig.

CNN: Why Washington is corrupt

But Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford University, warns that e-commerce firms will push for such certificates and that governments may one day require them.

ECONOMIST: Stop signs on the web

His insight helped inspire Lawrence Lessig's Harvard-based anti-corruption campaign ( Rootstrikers) and two groundbreaking progressive grass-root organizations ( Demand Progress and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee).

CNN: Why the Net grieves Aaron Swartz

And yet, top bloggers include academics and commentators whose work would qualify them as public intellectuals by any traditional measure for example, Tyler Cowen, Daniel Drezner, James Fallows, Steven Levitt, Lawrence Lessig and Andrew Sullivan.

ECONOMIST: And what it says about the role of public intellectuals

"Internet payola, " he called it. (Verizon and Google denied they were making such a deal.) "Blocking is the same thing as censorship, " says Wu, a Harvard law grad who studied under open- Internet evangelist Lawrence Lessig.

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