4 ms·

I didn't realize simplicity had anything to do with the severity of a crime. How hard is it to kill someone? How hard is it to download something on Pirate ba

by watty 14y ago

I didn't realize simplicity had anything to do with the severity of a crime. How hard is it to kill someone? How hard is it to download something on Pirate bay? How hard is it to stash a laptop in an unused MIT closet and write code to download 4M articles? Why does it matter how hard one of these things is? Ok, I give up. Please read this article before commenting any more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony/all/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony... Aaron fucked up and got caught. It sucks that we lost such an extraordinary individual but claiming he did nothing wrong is naive.

mindslight 14y ago
Then why is it the backbone of your appeal? Every persecution of a hacker invariably emphasizes how they created some scary powerful tool in furtherance of their goal. It's the modern day witch hunt. Your average slob thinks "I can't even write a program to download one file, he must have dangerous knowledge and powers". If they knew it was one step beyond rightClick->saveAs, and felt like anybody could do the same with little effort, they would wonder why the plaintiff had failed to secure something so simple if it really were as important as claimed.
glesica 14y ago
He used the Internet as it was meant to be used. MIT had no security, JSTOR had no security. Issuing a GET request to a web server is not, and should not be a crime. http://unhandled.com/2013/01/12/the-truth-about-aaron-swartzs-crime/ http://unhandled.com/2013/01/12/the-truth-about-aaron-swartz...
- mpyne 14y ago
  > Issuing a GET request to a web server is not, and should not be a crime. A DDoS is also "the Internet as it was intended" by your logic.
- Evbn 14y ago
  Did MIT and JSTOR really have no posted TOS? That is not my recollection of MIT wifi.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    Does violating a few TOS's warrant 35+ years in prison?
    - danem 14y ago
      That's a separate matter entirely. The point being discussed is whether Aaron did in fact violate the law. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone here who believed Aaron deserved the sentence or the prosecution brought upon him, but personally I find it incredible how quick people are to absolve him entirely.
  - glesica 14y ago
    First, he wasn't using wifi. Second, JSTOR does not have a click-through ToS on university campuses, so he never had to agree to anything.

by watty 14y ago

mindslight 14y ago

Then why is it the backbone of your appeal? Every persecution of a hacker invariably emphasizes how they created some scary powerful tool in furtherance of their goal. It's the modern day witch hunt. Your average slob thinks "I can't even write a program to download one file, he must have dangerous knowledge and powers". If they knew it was one step beyond rightClick->saveAs, and felt like anybody could do the same with little effort, they would wonder why the plaintiff had failed to secure something so simple if it really were as important as claimed.

glesica 14y ago

He used the Internet as it was meant to be used. MIT had no security, JSTOR had no security. Issuing a GET request to a web server is not, and should not be a crime. http://unhandled.com/2013/01/12/the-truth-about-aaron-swartzs-crime/ http://unhandled.com/2013/01/12/the-truth-about-aaron-swartz...

mpyne 14y ago
> Issuing a GET request to a web server is not, and should not be a crime. A DDoS is also "the Internet as it was intended" by your logic.
Evbn 14y ago
Did MIT and JSTOR really have no posted TOS? That is not my recollection of MIT wifi.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Does violating a few TOS's warrant 35+ years in prison?
  - danem 14y ago
    That's a separate matter entirely. The point being discussed is whether Aaron did in fact violate the law. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone here who believed Aaron deserved the sentence or the prosecution brought upon him, but personally I find it incredible how quick people are to absolve him entirely.
- glesica 14y ago
  First, he wasn't using wifi. Second, JSTOR does not have a click-through ToS on university campuses, so he never had to agree to anything.