IGX

Aaron returned the data he had in his possession and JSTOR settled any civil claims we might have had against him in June 2011.

Terry B. wrote:Opinions?

Terry B. wrote:Hacks into JSTOR legally thought computers at MIT to download academic papers with the plan of making them freely available to all.
JSTOR says they don't want to press charges and eventually release the documents to the public themselves. However,
the Department of Justice and MIT don't want any of it and the former arrest and charge him with 13 federal felonies and threaten millions in fines and 35 years in prison. Nobody appears to have been damaged but the guy had campaigned hard against SOPA and was obviously a threat.

The DOJ offers a deal but insists on at least 6 months in prison. Of course, they drop charges after he kills himself.

Opinions?

Grandpa's Spells wrote:

Terry B. wrote:Hacks into JSTOR legally thought computers at MIT to download academic papers with the plan of making them freely available to all.
JSTOR says they don't want to press charges and eventually release the documents to the public themselves. However,
the Department of Justice and MIT don't want any of it and the former arrest and charge him with 13 federal felonies and threaten millions in fines and 35 years in prison. Nobody appears to have been damaged but the guy had campaigned hard against SOPA and was obviously a threat.

The DOJ offers a deal but insists on at least 6 months in prison. Of course, they drop charges after he kills himself.

Opinions?

Prosecution was completely disproportionate to the crime, which was equivalent to trespassing.

Turdacious wrote:

Grandpa's Spells wrote:

Terry B. wrote:Hacks into JSTOR legally thought computers at MIT to download academic papers with the plan of making them freely available to all.
JSTOR says they don't want to press charges and eventually release the documents to the public themselves. However,
the Department of Justice and MIT don't want any of it and the former arrest and charge him with 13 federal felonies and threaten millions in fines and 35 years in prison. Nobody appears to have been damaged but the guy had campaigned hard against SOPA and was obviously a threat.

The DOJ offers a deal but insists on at least 6 months in prison. Of course, they drop charges after he kills himself.

Opinions?

Prosecution was completely disproportionate to the crime, which was equivalent to trespassing.

They want to maintain the illusion that there's very much on JSTOR that's worth reading.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz is fighting to hold on to her job, and to avoid an embarrassing grilling in Congress and possible professional disciplinary proceedings. Her prospects look grim. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), chair of the House Committee on Oversight is pledging a vigorous and critical inquiry into her management of the dubious criminal prosecution of Aaron Swartz, one of the greatest computer prodigies of his generation, who committed suicide a week ago, apparently convinced that out-of-control prosecutors had destroyed his life. While Issa’s prior attempts to take aim at the DOJ have fizzled, this one is garnering significant bipartisan support: Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.) is introducing “Aaron’s Law,” expressly overturning the interpretations upon which Ortiz proceeded against Swartz, while Jared Polis (D., Colo.) blasted the prosecutor’s case as “ridiculous and trumped-up.” Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), who would have a say in the appointment of Ortiz’s successor, was unstinting in her praise for Swartz as a person who “wouldn’t hurt a fly” and whose acts demonstrated a “powerful commitment” to the betterment of society. Nancy Gertner, a recently retired federal judge who is intimately familiar with both prosecutors, lambasted them in a broadcast interview, parsing and ridiculing the claims they had made against Swartz and suggesting that the case should have been dismissed. At funeral services in Highland Park, Illinois, on Tuesday, Swartz’s father charged that his son had been “killed by the government.” While some might ascribe this to the anguish of a bereaved father, scholars and investigators poring over the record of the Swartz prosecution are increasingly shocked at the scope and outrageousness of the prosecutorial misconduct that he faced.