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> In the Wake of Aaron Swartz's Death, Let's Fix Draconian Computer Crime Law I think this is an unfortunate attitude to have. When such an event happens, it's

> In the Wake of Aaron Swartz's Death, Let's Fix Draconian Computer Crime Law I think this is an unfortunate attitude to have. When such an event happens, it's easy to become blinded by emotions - and makes it more difficult to make rational, reasonable decisions. Let's think about this calmly, logically, and with a level-head. Let's not have the reputation of making decisions that are emotionally driven.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
Many people already feel this way. The addition of a little emotion can be the difference between doing something and letting it slide another day. If these laws were not a core piece of the issues surrounding Aaron's suicide, I would be disgusted. As it is, saner laws would have pushed the prosecution to take a more reasonable stance, so if we can push for change, great. Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything we can do to actually impact such change.
betterunix 14y ago
I have been thinking calmly and logically about the CFAA for years, starting with my last year of college. I have long held the opinion that the punishments handed down for computer crimes are entirely out of whack, and time and time again we have seen computer crime laws used to attack people who have not done anything most people would consider to be "wrong." Computer crime laws seem to be based on the idea that hackers are dark wizards whose powers are limitless if they are allowed to walk free. It is a symptom of a society that is vastly ignorant of the machines it relies on, coupled with a far-right ideology that says that the only reason anyone does anything is to advance their financial interests (e.g. that nobody would download files that a company makes millions selling access to unless their goal was to make millions). In the early 90s, the government tried to prosecute hackers over the Bellsouth E911 document using computer crimes laws -- and they were laughed out of court when the defense revealed that the document was a less-detailed version of a technical document that could be purchased for less than $20. We are looking at the same situation with the prosecution of Aaron Swartz: ludicrously overstated charges and overzealous prosecutors whose knowledge of computers is on the level of a chimpanzee (not to mention their sense of justice). Laws like the CFAA create this situation by enabling the sort of behavior we saw from the prosecutors in this case.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago

Many people already feel this way. The addition of a little emotion can be the difference between doing something and letting it slide another day. If these laws were not a core piece of the issues surrounding Aaron's suicide, I would be disgusted. As it is, saner laws would have pushed the prosecution to take a more reasonable stance, so if we can push for change, great. Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything we can do to actually impact such change.

betterunix 14y ago

I have been thinking calmly and logically about the CFAA for years, starting with my last year of college. I have long held the opinion that the punishments handed down for computer crimes are entirely out of whack, and time and time again we have seen computer crime laws used to attack people who have not done anything most people would consider to be "wrong." Computer crime laws seem to be based on the idea that hackers are dark wizards whose powers are limitless if they are allowed to walk free. It is a symptom of a society that is vastly ignorant of the machines it relies on, coupled with a far-right ideology that says that the only reason anyone does anything is to advance their financial interests (e.g. that nobody would download files that a company makes millions selling access to unless their goal was to make millions). In the early 90s, the government tried to prosecute hackers over the Bellsouth E911 document using computer crimes laws -- and they were laughed out of court when the defense revealed that the document was a less-detailed version of a technical document that could be purchased for less than $20. We are looking at the same situation with the prosecution of Aaron Swartz: ludicrously overstated charges and overzealous prosecutors whose knowledge of computers is on the level of a chimpanzee (not to mention their sense of justice). Laws like the CFAA create this situation by enabling the sort of behavior we saw from the prosecutors in this case.