4 ms·

Wasn't Aaron a fellow at Harvard Law school and didn't he hang out with Larry Lessig? The part of the story I don't understand the most is why the high profile

by rdouble 14y ago

Wasn't Aaron a fellow at Harvard Law school and didn't he hang out with Larry Lessig? The part of the story I don't understand the most is why the high profile lawyer who was egging Aaron on to break the rules seems to have played a minor role after his arrest.

neurotech1 14y ago
As far as I can tell, Larry (Lawrence) Lessig is a civil copyright/technology/IP rights attorney, and not known to be a criminal defense attorney. Even with his high profile status, he may not have much criminal defense experience.
- jacquesm 14y ago
  Yes, but that does not explain that the EFF as a whole didn't see fit to help out.
  - rdl 14y ago
    Why is weev getting relatively no support? EFF circa 2013 is a large institution. It does good, but it isn't at all focused on defending people in "boring" cases, which was kind of its original mission (Steve Jackson Games). There isn't an organization in the tech community which defends people from computer related crimes on bogus but boring grounds the way the ACLU does for pure, conventional free speech. I think that would be a useful organization; even if a defendant is a racist troll, he deserves a competent defense, and computer crimes are still complex and novel enough that normal legal defense is probably not ideal. Unfortunately I'm not (yet) in a position to fund something like that.
    - dannyobrien 14y ago
      EFF isn't that large (I work there). It takes on cases in exactly the same way as ACLU does, for impact on the law. It was involved in the Swartz case, but mostly as a resource to help people find other criminal defence lawyers. Lots of people got caught up in the investigation, and they couldn't all be represented by the same firm.
    - VonGuard 14y ago
      LOL. Weev isn't getting support from the EFF because he is Weev. Who the hell would want to defend him? And specifically here, Weev burned certain bridges there through his normal every-day work as a troll.
rdl 14y ago
"When my obligations to Harvard created a conflict that made it impossible for me to continue as a lawyer, I continued as a friend." (from http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bully http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bull...) i.e. another big East Coast university (primarily MIT, now Harvard) fucking over people actually doing something useful, more in keeping with their purported mission than anything the institution currently does. I hope MOOCs, online collaboration, one on one communication, self-directed projects, etc. destroy these outdated medieval legacies.

by rdouble 14y ago

neurotech1 14y ago

As far as I can tell, Larry (Lawrence) Lessig is a civil copyright/technology/IP rights attorney, and not known to be a criminal defense attorney. Even with his high profile status, he may not have much criminal defense experience.

jacquesm 14y ago
Yes, but that does not explain that the EFF as a whole didn't see fit to help out.
- rdl 14y ago
  Why is weev getting relatively no support? EFF circa 2013 is a large institution. It does good, but it isn't at all focused on defending people in "boring" cases, which was kind of its original mission (Steve Jackson Games). There isn't an organization in the tech community which defends people from computer related crimes on bogus but boring grounds the way the ACLU does for pure, conventional free speech. I think that would be a useful organization; even if a defendant is a racist troll, he deserves a competent defense, and computer crimes are still complex and novel enough that normal legal defense is probably not ideal. Unfortunately I'm not (yet) in a position to fund something like that.
  - dannyobrien 14y ago
    EFF isn't that large (I work there). It takes on cases in exactly the same way as ACLU does, for impact on the law. It was involved in the Swartz case, but mostly as a resource to help people find other criminal defence lawyers. Lots of people got caught up in the investigation, and they couldn't all be represented by the same firm.
  - VonGuard 14y ago
    LOL. Weev isn't getting support from the EFF because he is Weev. Who the hell would want to defend him? And specifically here, Weev burned certain bridges there through his normal every-day work as a troll.

rdl 14y ago

"When my obligations to Harvard created a conflict that made it impossible for me to continue as a lawyer, I continued as a friend." (from http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bully http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bull...) i.e. another big East Coast university (primarily MIT, now Harvard) fucking over people actually doing something useful, more in keeping with their purported mission than anything the institution currently does. I hope MOOCs, online collaboration, one on one communication, self-directed projects, etc. destroy these outdated medieval legacies.