4 ms·

I'm not referring to her losing her job. I'm referring to the threats of vigilante justice that seem to be going around, as mentioned by the linked article.

AnthonyMouse 14y ago
Vigilante justice is what happens when actual justice is not available. If you don't like vigilante justice, ensure actual justice.
- tedunangst 14y ago
  Fortunately everybody agrees as to what constitutes actual justice.
- numbsafari 14y ago
  In a sense, that's exactly what Aaron was going for when he was attempting to download JSTORs articles in order to "liberate" them. Imagine if he had made open information one of the "Campaigns" at Demand Progress instead of getting caught up with the law? Even now, what was supposed to be the one issue that motivated Aaron to break the law isn't even listed as one of the Campaigns at Demand Progress: http://blog.demandprogress.org/campaigns http://blog.demandprogress.org/campaigns Where is JSTOR and PACER on that list? If you want to go and double down on his mistake, fine. Just don't expect a different response from the government when you do so. Or, perhaps, instead of promoting "vigilante justice", you could make a rational argument and campaign with your local representatives to get these overly generalized laws and overly punitives sentencing guidelines changed.
  - AnthonyMouse 14y ago
    I am not promoting vigilante justice. I am merely pointing out what causes it.
- numbsafari 14y ago
  Maybe it's worth hearing Aaron's own words to understand the folly of attacking this one person: When you’re upset with someone, all you want to do is change the way they’re acting. But you can’t control what’s inside a person’s head. Yelling at them isn’t going to make them come around, it’s just going to make them more defiant, like the GM workers who keyed the cars they made. No, you can’t force other people to change. You can, however, change just about everything else. And usually, that’s enough. -- http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/nummi http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/nummi You want to fix how she behaves. Instead, change everything else. Change the system she operated in. There's a way to do that without violence, either physical or "cyber".
  - AnthonyMouse 14y ago
    You won't find me in disagreement with a campaign to change or repeal the CFAA and similar laws. But I think you mistake the point of attempts to remove these prosecutors. It isn't about them as individuals, it's about them as symbols of the broken system they represent. I would not be surprised to learn that the average prosecutor would have done exactly what these ones did, but that's the issue. You can't be a saint while working in a factory whose product is human imprisonment. We need to shut down the factory and turn it back into a justice system, and in the meantime disgorging a high profile offender can serve as a warning to the others -- that seems like something prosecutors should be able to relate to.
    - numbsafari 14y ago
      So you want to make an example of the prosecutors for trying to make an example out of Aaron Swartz?
  - CamperBob2 14y ago
    The goal is to make the next politically-motivated prosecutor think twice before unleashing hell on some kid. Right now the only feedback these asshats ever see is positive. That leads to an unstable system.
    - 14y ago

AnthonyMouse 14y ago

Vigilante justice is what happens when actual justice is not available. If you don't like vigilante justice, ensure actual justice.

tedunangst 14y ago
Fortunately everybody agrees as to what constitutes actual justice.
numbsafari 14y ago
In a sense, that's exactly what Aaron was going for when he was attempting to download JSTORs articles in order to "liberate" them. Imagine if he had made open information one of the "Campaigns" at Demand Progress instead of getting caught up with the law? Even now, what was supposed to be the one issue that motivated Aaron to break the law isn't even listed as one of the Campaigns at Demand Progress: http://blog.demandprogress.org/campaigns http://blog.demandprogress.org/campaigns Where is JSTOR and PACER on that list? If you want to go and double down on his mistake, fine. Just don't expect a different response from the government when you do so. Or, perhaps, instead of promoting "vigilante justice", you could make a rational argument and campaign with your local representatives to get these overly generalized laws and overly punitives sentencing guidelines changed.
- AnthonyMouse 14y ago
  I am not promoting vigilante justice. I am merely pointing out what causes it.
numbsafari 14y ago
Maybe it's worth hearing Aaron's own words to understand the folly of attacking this one person: When you’re upset with someone, all you want to do is change the way they’re acting. But you can’t control what’s inside a person’s head. Yelling at them isn’t going to make them come around, it’s just going to make them more defiant, like the GM workers who keyed the cars they made. No, you can’t force other people to change. You can, however, change just about everything else. And usually, that’s enough. -- http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/nummi http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/nummi You want to fix how she behaves. Instead, change everything else. Change the system she operated in. There's a way to do that without violence, either physical or "cyber".
- AnthonyMouse 14y ago
  You won't find me in disagreement with a campaign to change or repeal the CFAA and similar laws. But I think you mistake the point of attempts to remove these prosecutors. It isn't about them as individuals, it's about them as symbols of the broken system they represent. I would not be surprised to learn that the average prosecutor would have done exactly what these ones did, but that's the issue. You can't be a saint while working in a factory whose product is human imprisonment. We need to shut down the factory and turn it back into a justice system, and in the meantime disgorging a high profile offender can serve as a warning to the others -- that seems like something prosecutors should be able to relate to.
  - numbsafari 14y ago
    So you want to make an example of the prosecutors for trying to make an example out of Aaron Swartz?
- CamperBob2 14y ago
  The goal is to make the next politically-motivated prosecutor think twice before unleashing hell on some kid. Right now the only feedback these asshats ever see is positive. That leads to an unstable system.
  - 14y ago