Anon Takes Down Government Site Over Aaron Swartz's Death

[blubbey]

[citation][nom]JamesSneed[/nom]Intriguing video. To sum up the link from Chetou.Threaten the president = 5 years prison maxAssault a Supreme Court Justice = 10 years prison maxArmed bank robbery = 20 prison years max Help terrorist develop a nuclear weapon = 25 prison years max Download educational documents violating vendors TOS = 35+ years prison[/citation]

Land of the free.

 

[bustapr]

[citation][nom]JamesSneed[/nom]Intriguing video. To sum up the link from Chetou.Threaten the president = 5 years prison maxAssault a Supreme Court Justice = 10 years prison maxArmed bank robbery = 20 prison years max Help terrorist develop a nuclear weapon = 25 prison years max Download educational documents violating vendors TOS = 35+ years prison[/citation]

once in a while a comment appears here in Toms that leaves me baffled. I mean the guy was pirating research papers to give to the people who couldnt pay the ridiculous costs just to view them. I accept he was doing something illegal and deserved some sort of punishment, but 35+ years?! Was his crime worse than aiding in creating nuclear bombs and killing someone?

 

[razor512]

People need t under the criminal "justice" system a little better. When you are charged with a crime, you generally start off with the government offering a plea deal which means that they do not have to prove anything or have a court case.

Next, you will likely get a bench trial ( the governments equivalent to the star chamber trials in the past), the people charging you act as both the judge and jury, and thus almost no one ever gets their charges dropped regardless of how god their defense is. Many prosecutors looking to pad their portfolio will not admit to being wrong which is why you can see some recorded bench trials where the defendant pleas not guilty, and shows video of the actual crime being committed by someone else, and still not get the charges dropped ( look up the free state project is you want a bunch of examples)

After that, you will often get the chance to appeal the guilty charge with a jury trial, but many states will charge hundreds or thousands of dollars to appeal, and after that, you will still not get a fair trial as the state will make sure your jury is of people who will vote guilty so they can go home quickly ( the jury selection process for cases where the government is against what the person is believed to have done, specifically selects against anyone who shows any understanding of the law and the burden of proof, in cases where liberty minded people have tried to get on a jury, when they pretended to dumb and preoccupied, they got on the jury ( by showing that they wanted to be there the least), when they gave no excuses random made up excuse and showed understanding of the legal process, they were never picked.

If the government does not like you then you will not get a fair trial as there is too much of a conflict f interest since except you and a private lawyer, everyone else is on the side of the state. And to sidestep the constitution, they make getting a jury trial as expensive as possible so that you will take a plea deal.

 

[wot90s]

What the Government would have done was given him a sentence, probation, and hired him to do work for the Gov.. He wasnt smart enough to understand that... And yes, he broke the law. You dont mess with other peoples stuff. you leave it alone. just because you have the intelligence to hack a computer, you dont. Just because you can cross the road, you dont walk in front of a semi truck,,,, do you!!!

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]dark_wizzie[/nom]WTF is wrong with you? The magnitude of punishment did not balance according to what he did! A kid dies because people are computer-phobic. He would have gotten a lighter sentence if he killed somebody.I stole a piece of candy when I was 6. Do I deserve 35 years in prision? Stop stealing shit and you'll be fine, you say...[/citation]

most people appeal their case they don't kill themselves , he was a pussy and a coward because he killed himself instead of facing life. Sure it's sad , but please cry me a river , this not some nutty teen that just got depressed and offed him/herself , this is a weak man that did some crime and then decided it was easier to kill himself than face or fight the charges any more. and the anonymous guys are also pussies and cowards too because all they do is hide behing a computer to make hack attacks on others. now go ahead and thumb me down , but I HAVE NO sympathy for this guy , and I have nothing but contempt toward Anonymous .

 

[kingius]

Democracy is at its heart utterly corrupt. Did you know that there was vote rigging in ancient Greece, the birth place of democracy? The proof of this is in the museum in Athens. We should go back to the monarchies that made our civilisations stable for countless years and allowed us to prosper as a people under their protection. Of course, to do so, people would need to go against the media brainwashing against the very things that have made us strong for so long (i.e. royalty).

 

[kettu]

[citation][nom]ddpruitt[/nom]How to tell Tom's has a bunch of MoronsA) They think what Anon did is rightB) They think the government killed himC) They think that what he did what was rightD) They have they're heads so far up there A$$es that they see daylight
*** MIT PAYS to have access to these repositories and they are FREE ON CAMPUS so that a limited set of people can use a REASONABLE set of documents gain knowledge and us it to give back to the community. Schwartz CIRCUMVENTED the process and STOLE materials THAT SOMEONE had to pay for. **** Schwartz was facing UP TO 35 years.**** They told him THAT THEY NEVER INTENDED TO SEEK THE FULL SENTENCE.[/citation]

If you think it's in anyway reasonable to be facing up to 35 years in prison and the government to wield that sort of a threat against people who do the things you mentioned you qualify for point D)...

 

[redgarl]

I am backing Anonymous on this one. I usually don't like them and don't agree with what they are doing, but that story is horrid.

 

[g00fysmiley]

the sad part is it was PUBLICALLY FUNDED research papers, if my taxc dollars are funding the research why don't i get to see what I paid for? imo is anon really wants to honor mr. swartz's memory they would get access to every research paper out there that was publically funded and post for all interested parties to read

 

[jj463rd]

I do think that Swartz took the cowards way out.A better option would have been to take himself and as many of the enemy as possible with him into the abyss.When you have no other options then you will see everyone around you has a lot to lose.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

[citation][nom]String em up[/nom]sacre, you are totally right. We should have lynched Robin Hood- stealing from them fine rich folks to give to the nasty poor. [/citation]

Let me know how to lynch fictional characters, will you?

 

[COLGeek]

Anonymous isn't helping.

We have rules/laws for a reason. Break one and there can be consequences.

Otherwise, we would have pure chaos.

Swartz broke the rules, got caught, had a deal, and then then took the coward's way out (suicide). Not sure we should feel sorry for him.

BTW, Anonymous is NOT helping here, or did I already mention that?

 

[chomlee]

I did not hear of this story until today but reading the comments gets me even more confused. One side basically says that he had no idea what he was doing was wrong and all he did was click agree on the TOA without knowing what it said, while the other side says he blatently stole the documents with intentions on distributing the material for free.

One thing I do know having some connection to law inforcement is that everyone is stuck on the 35 years but that shouldn't even be mentioned. People caught with child porn get thousands of years of sentencing because they put a certain amount of time for each picture/video they find on their computers and if someone has 1,000 pics and sentenced to a year for each infraction, they sometimes charge them for 1,000 years. In then end, the sentence is much much less and it sounds like the reality was that the sentence was greatly reduced to 6 months. And no, he wouldn't go to jail with gang bangers, and murderers, etc. He probably would be put in a jail/prison with non violent criminals (depending on the area).

As for the prosecution of all the financial criminals that helped take down our financial system several years ago, I think 98% of the country is with you on that one and would like to see them all put in jail but unfortunately, they are the ones financing the politicians in the first place.

It is a shame that he took his life and I look at it this way. If he didn't take his life and in the end served 6 months and then then got on with his life, there wouldn't be all this dissagreement and name calling back and forth.

 

[Guest]

Are 1/4 of the people posting on Tom's really THAT stupid that they say this guy deserves 35 years, or are they simply not aware of what happened?

He did not "Hack" anything! He mass downloaded files from JSTOR as a student! Yes, he did a few thins "wrong", but hovering 35 years over this guys head for something that deserved a slap on the hand, IS INSANE! And anyone that has been through our legal system knows just what was ahead of him. He was a brave soul and he simply knew what was coming. I'd do the same.

As far as what Anon is doing, as said above, I also think they are beating a dead horse. Our government is beyond corrupt, and our justice system is beyond broken. We need to start over from scratch. I just wish it would get here and be over with instead of this slow, painful, death.

My 2 cents.

 

[maddad]

I am quite sure he could have plea bargained and got not time at all. I can't believe people are comparing his stealing to the civil rights movement and others. He could probably have landed himself a great paying job working for the government. But no; let's just let it go. It wasn't "your" bank records. (this time). So who determines when and what it is ok to steal. Anonymous? They are a bunch of thieves themselves! As long as you are not personally affected I guess it is ok. He was old enough and certainly wise enough to know if he got caught he could be prosecuted. Sony lost millions of dollars, and now has to pay a $400,000 fine for letting themselves get hacked. What fine should the college pay. I keep waiting for the day when they hack your bank and you can't get access to your money. Or they hack the ATM machine system and no one has access for hours. Same crime guess we shouldn't blame the hacker. After all if the bank CEO was playing by the rules they wouldn't have done it. He'll still get his millions and and the only people that will pay a price is the account holders! I am not saying everything Anonymous does is wrong. But I don't here any stories of them hacking any banks that transfer money to terrorists. I don't here about them hacking Syria's government accounts, They don't hack IRAN, or North Korea. Kinda makes you wonder doesn't it!

 

[antilycus]

Also keep this in mind, when the Patriot Act passed, any negative opinion of the president (current, past or future) is an act of terrorism in the United States, punisheable by the same laws that any terrorist is subjected to.

The U.S. constitution was written specifically to not allow the federal government to tax the income of the people...what did the governenment do to get get the money? Simple, they just wrote a law which redacted the statement in the the constitution.

The U.S. political system is broken. The only way it's going to get fixed is by people standing up. If you aren't willing to stand up for what you believe in, you may as well give up any hope of freedom right now. You also should never cry/moan about anything you don't like, because in all reality you aren't willing to lift a finger for what you want...which only proves how much you don't want it.

 

[wiyosaya]

[citation][nom]ELMO_2006[/nom]After Swartz committed suicide, Ortiz acknowledged that, “There was no evidence against Mr. Swartz indicating that he committed his acts for personal gain” and that his conduct “did not warrant the severe punishments authorized by Congress.”[/citation]
It is unfortunate that Swartz committed suicide, then. I am sure his case would have garnered attention from the EFF, and maybe the Innocence Project. Having either on his side would have given him the legal clout that he needed to fight this, and, to make a real difference. Regardless of the ridiculousness of the law, the system is set up with checks and balances, and garbage laws have been and can be fought in the courts.

Instead, he chose to commit suicide, and we have a bunch of Anon punks taking down web sites which, as I see it, is an action that will not make a bit of difference in combating the law.

Vote me down for this, but Anon, in this case, is a minor irritant setting themselves up to be caught, too, and Swartz did not have the balls to take it through the system and win. That Swartz killed himself is just a waste - he will only get 15-minutes of fame in his death when he could have actually fought this law and one and made the world a better place for all.

 

[unoriginal1]

[citation][nom]ddpruitt[/nom]How to tell Tom's has a bunch of MoronsA) They think what Anon did is rightB) They think the government killed himC) They think that what he did what was rightD) They have they're heads so far up there A$$es that they see daylight. ![/citation]

So stay the hell off the site? No one much cares that your here anyways.

Botton line. Punishment does not fit the crime here. End of story.

And for all those saying it was a cowardly thing to commit suicide. Don't talk about it if you've never been there. Your state of mind when contemplating that is a VERY difficult thing to overcome. It'll change your opinion when your Son, Daughter or loved one is faced with that decision someday. The sheer heartlessness of some of you posters makes me sick. We live in a corrupt Ugly Filthy disgusting world.

 

[GNCD]

[citation][nom]ELMO_2006[/nom]There is much more to this story than what Toms has posted:While Swartz had indeed compromised MIT's network and the JSTOR database, the Middlesex County district court decided that he wouldn't face jail time for his actions. The matter would have been closed and Swartz would have been "off the hook" so to speak, but United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz took up the case and things decidedly took a turn for the worse.Ortiz decided to hit Swartz with 13 felony charges that could have sent him to jail for up to 35 years. Swartz would also be on the hook for a $1 million fine for his actions. In a 2011 press release, Ortiz declared that, "Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars. It is equally harmful to the victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away.” With the U.S. Government breathing down his neck and with no outlet and no amicable resolution in sight to "humanely" resolve his legal woes, Swartz took his own life on January 11, 2013. After Swartz committed suicide, Ortiz acknowledged that, “There was no evidence against Mr. Swartz indicating that he committed his acts for personal gain” and that his conduct “did not warrant the severe punishments authorized by Congress.” - http/www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=29754Why don't these so-called US Attorneys crack down on those responsible for the 2008 collapse of the Financial Markets that set the world economy into a depression?!!?!?Give me a break, this Carmen M. Ortiz should be condemned for his actions![/citation]

That just pissed me off man. WTF!

 

[Guest]

maddad
"I am quite sure he could have plea bargained and got not time at all. I can't believe people are comparing his stealing to the civil rights movement and others. He could probably have landed himself a great paying job working for the government. But no; let's just let it go. It wasn't "your" bank records. (this time)."

You Sir, are a f*cking moron! He released "public" documents, to the public. He wasn't happy with the slow and limited ability to grab a document here and there, so he mass downloaded them. The only thing he is "guilty" of is accessing a server closet. "Bank records"? WTF are you talking about? And the moron that gave you a +1, is just that, another moron!

Where do these idiots come from? Seriously!