On Friday, Aaron Swartz was found dead in his apartment; he’d apparently hanged himself. Swartz was only 26, a brilliant and troubled young man who suffered from clinical depression, and also an Internet activist who spoke out and acted out in favor of making access to public information more free to everyone. He was a friend of both Lawrence Lessig and Cory Doctorow. Swartz’s other accomplishments include RECAP, a tool that uploaded public-domain legal documents retrieved from the subscription-based PACER document record system into a duplicate free-access database. He was also reportedly involved in the early stages of...

We're not entirely sure if the White House is now releasing a free holiday e-book on an annual basis. But we do know that taking a December tour of a seasonally-bedecked White House—presumably decorated by the First Lady—is something of a longstanding D.C. tradition. According to the official White House website, Michelle Obama's 2012 holiday decor theme is 'Joy to All.' And as reported by Obama Foodorama, a blog that exclusively covers the White House's food initiatives: "The thousands of guests who tour the White House in December will receive the Official White House Holiday Tour Book, which features a message from President Obama and...

According to the National Journal: The Obama Administration is calling for greater law enforcement authority and tougher penalties, including prison in some cases, for people convicted of copyright infringement. The White House's Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Victoria Espinel, submitted 20 recommendations to Congress on Tuesday aimed at cracking down on copyright infringement on items ranging from drugs to music and military equipment. Espinel urged Congress to make illegally streaming copyrighted content online a felony offense in some instances. Online piracy and counterfeiting, her report notes, are "significant concerns" for the White House. Such infringement causes "economic harm ...