14 ms·

Fuck this country. EDIT: The guy was facing 13 felony counts for downloading academic articles.

by alrs 14y ago

wedtm 14y ago
Context?
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  "Everything bad that happens is because this country sucks, everything good that happens is because our community is awesome".
- alrs 14y ago
  http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony...
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  He was being charged with the felony of downloading/distributing research done using public funding so that it could be made freely available to the taxpayers who funded it. JSTOR had no interest in prosecuting him, but the US Attorney's Office decided to go ahead anyway.
  - optimiz3 14y ago
    This would be a perfect opportunity for a White House pardon.
    - tomjen3 14y ago
      Those are only available to the guilty.
      - twoodfin 14y ago
        I assume you mean convicted, but Ford gave Nixon one.
        tomjen3 14y ago
        Actually I do mean guilty, as I was under the impression that you have to accept your guilt before you could get a pardon.
      - jlgreco 14y ago
        Is that the case in the US? My impression is that Ford gave Nixon a blanket pardon even though Nixon had not (yet, probably) been found guilty of anything.
        iso-8859-1 14y ago
        You are correct: http://www.factcheck.org/2008/06/blanket-pardons/ http://www.factcheck.org/2008/06/blanket-pardons/
      - icambron 14y ago
        A promise of a pardon would have done just as well, especially for federal prosecutors. The DOJ isn't going to make a big case out something their boss has promised to throw out. That said, the president being superinvolved in an ongoing case like that would be very strange.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
cremnob 14y ago
Why are you assuming he did it because of his legal problems?
- lopatin 14y ago
  Because he was a brilliant and loved computer programmer who was facing 35 years in prison. Can you imagine the US Attorneys office treating you in the same manner they treat rapists because you wrote a downloader script? I'd say it's a very reasonable assumption. RIP Aaron
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - krzyk 14y ago
    Nobody sane would kill himself - it's against the nature of all beings. Besides it's the easy way out.
    - sks 14y ago
      Someone who could have contributed very positively to the society just killed himself. We can't reverse that, the best we can do now is to learn from this incidence and try to minimize it in the future. Explaining it away in the name of insanity will not help.
    - lopatin 14y ago
      What's your fucking point?
      - krzyk 14y ago
        You pull the trigger and all your problems disappear, just like that. But what about your family, friends? They are devastated for the rest of their lives.
        lopatin 14y ago
aneth4 14y ago
Understandable emotion, but the country did not kill him. He did that. You can disagree with the laws of the land, protest them, even violate them in protest assuming you are willing to pay the consequences. You can blame the country, its politicians, or its voters for having bad laws. You can't blame those entities for this suicide. That was his choice, and it's unfortunate he will not be around to make his case.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  We have no problem directing our attention at bullying when we consider elevated teenage suicide statistics, but if those bullies happen to be in government they are suddenly off limits and deserve no blame?
  - achompas 14y ago
    Man, I don't want to make this point here, but comparing this to bullying is ridiculous. There's a difference between a child who is victimized while growing socially and emotionally and an adult man who allegedly broke the law knowingly.
    - jlgreco 14y ago
      You're right, this isn't really comparable to bullying, the imbalance of power is much more extreme. It is comparable to an adult beating a child for using a profane word. A completely mindbogglingly disproportionate response; convicted rapists get less time on average than what he was looking at. JSTOR didn't want him pursued like he was, but the justice department was trying to nail him to the wall anyway. They wanted blood, and unfortunately they got it.
      - BrokenPipe 14y ago
        I agree with you. The parallel to bullying is a good fit and the only reason it is not _really_ comparable is because of the imbalance of power. I would not be surprised to find myself and most others taking the same sort of action in a similar, unjust, situation. Would you rather die today or suffer more than you lived so far in prison for something like that ? Isn't just a matter of the law being unjust, I think this is pure evil and wrong interpretation of a wrong law. The law needs changing and the people pursing this case need changing too.
harrygold 14y ago
Rest in Peace Aaron

Fuck this country. EDIT: The guy was facing 13 felony counts for downloading academic articles.

by alrs 14y ago

Fuck this country. EDIT: The guy was facing 13 felony counts for downloading academic articles.

wedtm 14y ago

Context?

sliverstorm 14y ago
"Everything bad that happens is because this country sucks, everything good that happens is because our community is awesome".
alrs 14y ago
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony...
w1ntermute 14y ago
He was being charged with the felony of downloading/distributing research done using public funding so that it could be made freely available to the taxpayers who funded it. JSTOR had no interest in prosecuting him, but the US Attorney's Office decided to go ahead anyway.
- optimiz3 14y ago
  This would be a perfect opportunity for a White House pardon.
  - tomjen3 14y ago
    Those are only available to the guilty.
    - twoodfin 14y ago
      I assume you mean convicted, but Ford gave Nixon one.
      - tomjen3 14y ago
        Actually I do mean guilty, as I was under the impression that you have to accept your guilt before you could get a pardon.
    - jlgreco 14y ago
      Is that the case in the US? My impression is that Ford gave Nixon a blanket pardon even though Nixon had not (yet, probably) been found guilty of anything.
      - iso-8859-1 14y ago
        You are correct: http://www.factcheck.org/2008/06/blanket-pardons/ http://www.factcheck.org/2008/06/blanket-pardons/
    - icambron 14y ago
      A promise of a pardon would have done just as well, especially for federal prosecutors. The DOJ isn't going to make a big case out something their boss has promised to throw out. That said, the president being superinvolved in an ongoing case like that would be very strange.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

cremnob 14y ago

Why are you assuming he did it because of his legal problems?

lopatin 14y ago
Because he was a brilliant and loved computer programmer who was facing 35 years in prison. Can you imagine the US Attorneys office treating you in the same manner they treat rapists because you wrote a downloader script? I'd say it's a very reasonable assumption. RIP Aaron
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- krzyk 14y ago
  Nobody sane would kill himself - it's against the nature of all beings. Besides it's the easy way out.
  - sks 14y ago
    Someone who could have contributed very positively to the society just killed himself. We can't reverse that, the best we can do now is to learn from this incidence and try to minimize it in the future. Explaining it away in the name of insanity will not help.
  - lopatin 14y ago
    What's your fucking point?
    - krzyk 14y ago
      You pull the trigger and all your problems disappear, just like that. But what about your family, friends? They are devastated for the rest of their lives.
      - lopatin 14y ago

aneth4 14y ago

Understandable emotion, but the country did not kill him. He did that. You can disagree with the laws of the land, protest them, even violate them in protest assuming you are willing to pay the consequences. You can blame the country, its politicians, or its voters for having bad laws. You can't blame those entities for this suicide. That was his choice, and it's unfortunate he will not be around to make his case.

jlgreco 14y ago
We have no problem directing our attention at bullying when we consider elevated teenage suicide statistics, but if those bullies happen to be in government they are suddenly off limits and deserve no blame?
- achompas 14y ago
  Man, I don't want to make this point here, but comparing this to bullying is ridiculous. There's a difference between a child who is victimized while growing socially and emotionally and an adult man who allegedly broke the law knowingly.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    You're right, this isn't really comparable to bullying, the imbalance of power is much more extreme. It is comparable to an adult beating a child for using a profane word. A completely mindbogglingly disproportionate response; convicted rapists get less time on average than what he was looking at. JSTOR didn't want him pursued like he was, but the justice department was trying to nail him to the wall anyway. They wanted blood, and unfortunately they got it.
    - BrokenPipe 14y ago
      I agree with you. The parallel to bullying is a good fit and the only reason it is not _really_ comparable is because of the imbalance of power. I would not be surprised to find myself and most others taking the same sort of action in a similar, unjust, situation. Would you rather die today or suffer more than you lived so far in prison for something like that ? Isn't just a matter of the law being unjust, I think this is pure evil and wrong interpretation of a wrong law. The law needs changing and the people pursing this case need changing too.

harrygold 14y ago

Rest in Peace Aaron