5 ms·

They can further honor him by putting some reins on their legal team.

sp332 14y ago
Well he did sneak into a closet and cause JSTOR to threaten to cut MIT's access. After things settled down, MIT dropped all charges. I think that was pretty reasonable.
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  Where have you seen that they dropped charges? Everything I've read has indicated exactly the opposite.
  - sp332 14y ago
    MIT dropped trespassing charges. (JSTOR also dropped their charges after Aaron deleted the files and promised not to do it again or something.) The feds got involved with the "hacking" because it crossed state lines, and the district attorney in Boston continued the criminal case after both JSTOR and MIT had settled with Aaron out of court.
    - btilly 14y ago
      And according to what the Aaron's lawyers have said, the prosecutors pursued the case because MIT behind the scenes wanted them to. MIT is not necessarily blameless here. I for one will be reading that report.
- pekk 14y ago
  It wasn't JSTOR's fault, and it wasn't MIT's fault. Why, it can only be the government's fault!
  - sp332 14y ago
    It was a bit MIT's fault. It was a bit less JSTOR's fault. And it was a whole lot more the feds' fault.
    - aheilbut 14y ago
      And perhaps it was also a little bit Aaron Swartz's fault.
      - betterunix 14y ago
        He was not doing anything that other people who faced no criminal charges did not do. He just did things differently.
        JasonFruit 14y ago
        There are a lot of people in prison who wish that was a defense.
- jhuni 14y ago
  He was fighting against the commodification of academic journals. MIT should have given him a medal.
  - hect0r 14y ago
    Yes but did it occur to him that maybe the only reason such journals exist is because they are commercial enterprises?
    - sp332 14y ago
      You may not know this, but he founded Demand Progress. He was also the keynote speaker at Freedom to Connect 2012 in Washinton, D.C. So yeah, he probably thought about it a lot more than you have.

sp332 14y ago

Well he did sneak into a closet and cause JSTOR to threaten to cut MIT's access. After things settled down, MIT dropped all charges. I think that was pretty reasonable.

waterlesscloud 14y ago
Where have you seen that they dropped charges? Everything I've read has indicated exactly the opposite.
- sp332 14y ago
  MIT dropped trespassing charges. (JSTOR also dropped their charges after Aaron deleted the files and promised not to do it again or something.) The feds got involved with the "hacking" because it crossed state lines, and the district attorney in Boston continued the criminal case after both JSTOR and MIT had settled with Aaron out of court.
  - btilly 14y ago
    And according to what the Aaron's lawyers have said, the prosecutors pursued the case because MIT behind the scenes wanted them to. MIT is not necessarily blameless here. I for one will be reading that report.
pekk 14y ago
It wasn't JSTOR's fault, and it wasn't MIT's fault. Why, it can only be the government's fault!
- sp332 14y ago
  It was a bit MIT's fault. It was a bit less JSTOR's fault. And it was a whole lot more the feds' fault.
  - aheilbut 14y ago
    And perhaps it was also a little bit Aaron Swartz's fault.
    - betterunix 14y ago
      He was not doing anything that other people who faced no criminal charges did not do. He just did things differently.
      - JasonFruit 14y ago
        There are a lot of people in prison who wish that was a defense.
jhuni 14y ago
He was fighting against the commodification of academic journals. MIT should have given him a medal.
- hect0r 14y ago
  Yes but did it occur to him that maybe the only reason such journals exist is because they are commercial enterprises?
  - sp332 14y ago
    You may not know this, but he founded Demand Progress. He was also the keynote speaker at Freedom to Connect 2012 in Washinton, D.C. So yeah, he probably thought about it a lot more than you have.