Online jew activist indicted for data theft from M.I.T.

[General of Darkness]

I'm shocked.

Online activist indicted for data theft from M.I.T.

Colin Jones (http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Colin%20Jones)
Daily News Writer
Tuesday, July 19th 2011, 4:16 PM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/07/20/alg_aaron_swartz.jpgYouTube/The Alyona Show
Online activist Aaron Swartz was charged with data theft in Boston on Tuesday.

An online activist was charged Thursday in Boston (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Boston) over allegations he hacked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology) and stole more than 4 million articles from the academic archive JSTOR.

The charges against Aaron Swartz (http://www.aaronsw.com/), 24, include computer fraud, wire fraud, criminal forfeiture and obtaining information from a protected computer, according to the New York Times (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/reddit-co-founder-charged-with-data-theft/). Swartz (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Aaron+Swartz) had been noted as a co-founder of the social news site Reddit (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Reddit.com) - but this has been disputed by the sites founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman (https://plus.google.com/113164038788726940319/posts/9NUWmu2c9pq#113164038788726940319/posts/9NUWmu2c9pq).

Swartz faces up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted.

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said, “Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars,” the Times reports.

Swartz is also the founder and director of Demand Progress (http://blog.demandprogress.org/2011/07/federal-government-indicts-former-demand-progress-executive-director-for-downloading-too-many-journal-articles/), a nonprofit organization that lobbies for progressive policy online.

The group’s executive director, David Segal (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/David+Segal), responded to Swartz’s arrest with an online statement.

“This makes no sense,” he said. “It’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.”
Segal said Swartz had cleared up the matter with JSTOR and that the archive “asked the government not to prosecute.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2011/07/19/2011-07-19_online_activist_indicted_for_data_theft_from_mi t.html?r=news

[LuckyStrike]

I'm shocked.

Online activist indicted for data theft from M.I.T.

Colin Jones (http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Colin%20Jones)
Daily News Writer
Tuesday, July 19th 2011, 4:16 PM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/07/20/alg_aaron_swartz.jpgYouTube/The Alyona Show
Online activist Aaron Swartz was charged with data theft in Boston on Tuesday.

An online activist was charged Thursday in Boston (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Boston) over allegations he hacked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology) and stole more than 4 million articles from the academic archive JSTOR.

The charges against Aaron Swartz (http://www.aaronsw.com/), 24, include computer fraud, wire fraud, criminal forfeiture and obtaining information from a protected computer, according to the New York Times (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/reddit-co-founder-charged-with-data-theft/). Swartz (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Aaron+Swartz) had been noted as a co-founder of the social news site Reddit (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Reddit.com) - but this has been disputed by the sites founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman (https://plus.google.com/113164038788726940319/posts/9NUWmu2c9pq#113164038788726940319/posts/9NUWmu2c9pq).

Swartz faces up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted.

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said, “Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars,” the Times reports.

Swartz is also the founder and director of Demand Progress (http://blog.demandprogress.org/2011/07/federal-government-indicts-former-demand-progress-executive-director-for-downloading-too-many-journal-articles/), a nonprofit organization that lobbies for progressive policy online.

The group’s executive director, David Segal (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/David+Segal), responded to Swartz’s arrest with an online statement.

“This makes no sense,” he said. “It’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.”
Segal said Swartz had cleared up the matter with JSTOR and that the archive “asked the government not to prosecute.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2011/07/19/2011-07-19_online_activist_indicted_for_data_theft_from_mi t.html?r=news

A jewish criminal? Amazing.

[Joe King]

If he stole, he should get convicted same as any other theif.

[mick silver]

but he didnt mean to do it . lets not put him in jail . i like when they try to get it remove from the courts he a good little jew

[General of Darkness]

If he stole, he should get convicted same as any other theif.

Maybe we can send him to China, they could kick his ass in the street and break his hands. What do you say?

[mick silver]

you just made me cough up a drink thanks God

[osoab]

Odds of him being claimed as a spy and shipped backed to Izzy?

[General of Darkness]

Odds of him being claimed as a spy and shipped backed to Izzy?

Is there a way to track a story over the internet to have them email you updates?

[osoab]

Is there a way to track a story over the internet to have them email you updates?


I think google will, but you have to sell your soul.

[Joe King]

Maybe we can send him to China, they could kick his ass in the street and break his hands. What do you say?
If he committed his crime in China, sure.

[Spectrism]

I am not so sure I agree with "hacking laws". At what point is it "hacking"? If I am researching a subject, I will go where I can find info. If I can open a door in my cyber search, then the info I gain is not secured, so it should be free for the taking.

The counter argument is that there is nothing secure when connected to the internet. My answer is: correct- there is no secured location on the internet. If you have classified information, don't give it access tothe internet.

Why is it that the governments can search these things without warrants and without fear of prosecution, yet a teenage computer geek is considered public enemy number 2? These hacker laws are used to protect the evil-doings of governments.

China has teams of hackers constantly looking for technology to steal. These are sanctioned by their government. Same for military secrets. All governments that have any power in the world play that game. I don't see anyone going after them, if this is a real war.

Anyway... I am not 100% stuck in this way of thinking. As technology changes, there are new needs to protect people. I just get concerned that the laws do not apply evenly across the board.

[Awoke]

I'm willing to bet charges are dropped or forgotten.

[sirgonzo420]

What did he "steal"?

Articles that were available online?


What am I missing?!

[Ash_Williams]

Wait... because he's a jew, everyone is ok with this being illegal now?

Crap, I hope a new never gets caught with weed, or not wearing a seatbelt, or protesting taxes, or not doing his census.

If one gets caught downloading mp3s or watching movies online I guess you guys will be against that too.

[po boy]

What did he "steal"?

Articles that were available online?


What am I missing?!

Jew hating glasses?

[gunDriller]

Maybe we can send him to China, they could kick his ass in the street and break his hands. What do you say?

can i have his kidneys ?

[osoab]

can i have his kidneys ?

365











Adding extra characters for the damn post to go. Spaces do not work.

[Joe King]

What did he "steal"?

Articles that were available online?


What am I missing?!

What he supposedly "stole" was 4.8 million documents that were already avaliable to him.

What they {feds} seem to be having issue with is how he did it.

The federal prosecutors office, of course, seems more interested in the fact that Swartz illegally accessed a computer network — in this case (according to the indictment) by gaining unauthorized access to the MIT computer network’s main server space, where he hooked up a laptop to one of the servers and then hid it under a shelf, and repeatedly changed his computer’s hardware address in order to get around the barriers that JSTOR and the university set up.

It seems that the "unauthorized access" is the main issue.

However, it appears there is no "real" crime here. At least not in GSUS standards.

...the documents that he allegedly took were academic publications that were freely available to anyone studying at a university — in other words, not commercially or politically sensitive in any way. Even the non-profit organization in charge of this archive declined to proceed with any case against the programmer.

We stopped this downloading activity, and the individual responsible, Mr. Swartz, was identified. We secured from Mr. Swartz the content that was taken, and received confirmation that the content was not and would not be used, copied, transferred, or distributed.

If the stuff was already avaliable to him and the organization in charge of what he "hacked" into is ok with it, then I say there is no crime here.

Certainly not one that has a punishment of possibly 35 years in jail and up to a million dollar fine.

Can you say, overkill?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/idUS236700036820110720

[JDRock]

...oh the SHOCK! you mean to tell me a jew with access to personal/sensitive data STOLE IT?? you mean you cant trust a jew?? wow i learned somthing new!!!!
anyway, he will walk, after a jew judge sentences him to a 3 month country club prisin...

[osoab]

Mneagle's thread.

Computer Activist, 26, commits suicide (was co-owner of Reddit) (http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?66469-Computer-Activist-26-commits-suicide-%28was-co-owner-of-Reddit%29&highlight=Aaron+Swartz)


A little more on the lead prosecutor.


Triumphant motel owner slams Carmen Ortiz (http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/01/triumphant_motel_owner_slams_carmen_ortiz)

A Tewksbury motel owner who just beat back U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s three-year bid to seize his business has become the latest critic to accuse the Hub’s top fed of prosecutorial bullying.

“I don’t think she should have the power she has to pull this stuff on people,” Russ Caswell, owner of the Motel Caswell, told the Herald last night after a judge’s ruling in his favor.

The feds first tried to grab Caswell’s property in 2009 under drug seizure laws, citing numerous drug busts at the motel. Caswell’s defense team argued that he was not responsible for what guests did. And his lawyers found there was actually more drug activity at nearby businesses, and theorized the government was going after Caswell, who has no criminal record, because his mortgage-free property is worth more than $1 million.

“It’s bullying by the government. And it’s a huge waste of taxpayer money,” said Caswell, whose father built the motel in 1955. “This has been a huge financial and physical toll. It’s thrown our whole family into turmoil. You work for all your life to pay for something and these people come along and think it’s theirs. It’s just wrong. The average person can’t afford to fight this.”

In a written decision after a November trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Gail Dein dismissed the government’s forfeiture action, ruling yesterday that Caswell, “who was trying to eke out an income from a business located in a drug-infested area that posed great risks to the safety of him and his family,” took all reasonable steps to prevent crime.

“The Government’s resolution of the crime problem should not be to simply take his Property,” Dein said in her decision.

The innkeeper’s complaint follows the suicide of hacker Aaron Swartz, who faced up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Swartz’s family, lawyers and legal commentators have called for Ortiz’s ouster and new guidelines for federal attorneys, saying the Swartz case was a prosecutorial abuse.

Ortiz has defended her prosecution of Swartz’s effort to post paywall-protected academic papers freely on the Internet. Her spokeswoman declined comment on the Caswell case last night, saying prosecutors are reviewing the judge’s decision.

Caswell estimates the U.S. government will have to pay at least $600,000 toward his defense fees.

“It’s a case that should not have been filed in the first place,” said Scott Bullock of the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, who worked on Caswell’s case. “This is one of the most aggressive uses of civil forfeiture laws. It’s a power that’s too easily abused, and this case epitomizes what an aggressive U.S. attorney can do to a small-business owner with that law.”

Boston College Law Professor George Brown said the Caswell and Swartz cases may lend momentum to the effort to rein in aggressive prosecutions.

“That scrutiny is a good thing. After all, it is a public office,” Brown said. “What’s going on here is a lot of things are happening at the same time that I think are making the public and the bar feel that maybe accountability and transparency is called for at the U.S. Attorney’s 
Office.”

[osoab]

DOJ Admits It Had To Put Aaron Swartz In Jail To Save Face Over The Arrest (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130223/02284022080/doj-admits-it-had-to-put-aaron-swartz-jail-to-save-face-over-arrest.shtml)

As the Congressional investigation into the DOJ's prosecution of Aaron Swartz has continued, apparently a DOJ representative has admitted that part of the reason it insisted on having Swartz plead guilty to a felony and go to jail, no matter what, was that it feared the public backlash for the original arrest (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/aaron-swartz-prosecutors_n_2735675.html) if they couldn't then show a felony conviction and jailtime. According to a Huffington Post article, quoting various sources:
Some congressional staffers left the briefing with the impression that prosecutors believed they needed to convict Swartz of a felony that would put him in jail for a short sentence in order to justify bringing the charges in the first place, according to two aides with knowledge of the briefing. The odd thing is this little tidbit comes at the very, very end of a longer article, most of which focuses on the DOJ telling Congressional staffers that part of the reason they went after Swartz with such zeal was because of his infamous Guerilla Open Access Manifesto (http://archive.org/stream/GuerillaOpenAccessManifesto/Goamjuly2008_djvu.txt). That might explain why they were so eager to arrest him, but it seems like the much bigger deal, considering all the concern about prosecutor discretion, that after they arrested him, they then didn't want to look bad, which is why they continued to demand jailtime and felony convictions.

rest at link.

[Cebu_4_2]

He will fly to Israel, change his name and return again with Zero jail time.

What do you call a Jew in prison....

[Shami-Amourae]

He will fly to Israel, change his name and return again with Zero jail time.

What do you call a Jew in prison....

...Umm he's dead. The government suicided him.

Bio from Anon:
https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Aaron_Swartz

[JDRock]

i know shami...he was one of the good guys...check out the jew prosecuting attorny....he has a history of suicided enemies of the state...he's dirty. its rumored schwartz was rummaging thru files at mit and came across the pedophile ring info that pointed to half the congress and the at least the last 4 presidents...