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Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

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Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#301

Post by mukyu »

jancona wrote: post #194
mukyu wrote: post #4

The title is inaccurate. It is alleged that he signed up for guest accounts on their network with different laptops, changed his MAC address and re-registered if the IP he was using was blocked (by JSTOR) or cut off of the network (by MIT), and finally connected a laptop in a basement networking closet. I guess you could say that is 'hacking' in the unauthorized access sense, but not in any meaningful sense. It isn't…

How is this not "unauthorized access" "in any meaningful sense"? They blocked his IP, they blocked his MAC, and he hid a machine in a wiring closet to get on MIT's network. What would he have to do to make it "meaningful"?

I did not say that it was not unauthorized access, just that hacking (in the breaking into computer systems sense) involves actually breaking in.

Changing a MAC address (on a device that you own and control) does not constitute hacking. It is as simple as ifconfig(8) and if you have a consumer router it probably has an option in the web interface to do it.

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#302

Post by roel_v »

kragen wrote: post #290
ars wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sad that you have to write javascript code to do that! (But also cool that you did. :) "Complete Current Scholarship Collection" for 22751.90 is a duplicate of all the things above it. So I think some of the entries have been double counted. The real price for most libraries may about 1/2 or less of your estimate (they won't be interested in everything). And 20,000 to 40,000 is (well, shouldn't) be a lot of mone…

Oh, thanks for finding that error! I think you're thinking very much of US salaries. $40,000 a year shouldn't be a lot of money for a public library in the US , because it's the salary for a single employee (or the total costs for half an employee!), and the wonderful public library system in the US does indeed have multiple libraries. But world GDP per person is about US$10k per year, compared to the US's US$47k — a…

So a Mercedes should cost 1/10th in Zimbabwe of what it does in the West, if people make 1/10th there?

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#303

Post by microarchitect »

tessro wrote: post #103

Demand Progress PAC's website is down, but they released a statement: (from: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9k5ryiX... ) Cambridge, MA– Moments ago, Aaron Swartz, former executive director and founder of Demand Progress, was indicted by the US government. As best as we can tell, he is being charged with allegedly downloading too many scholarly journal articles from the Web. The government conten…

“This makes no sense,” said Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal; “it’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.”

No it's not. It's like sneaking into the library at night and making photocopies of all the books. Then, upon getting caught, the perpetrator sneaks back into the library in a different disguise and continues to photocopy more books. Repeat this action of getting caught and sneaking back in a few more times and combine this with the fact that his downloading of documents affected JSTOR performance for other legitimate users of the archive and you get a sense of what he's really done.

How is this excusable?

I'm completely onboard with those who claim that we need some reform in scientific publishing, but Aaron's actions smack of low ethical standards to me, not to mention extremely poor judgement on his part.

EDIT: Hi downvoter! Can you please explain why you think I'm wrong?

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#304

Post by GHFigs »

keane wrote: post #297
GHFigs wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frankly, I think most of the claims in your post are bonkers, but this one sticks out: This inconveniencing of other users could have been avoided and the blame for how JSTOR allocates resources lies with the architects of JSTOR. "During November and December, 2010, Swartz used the "ghost laptop" (i.e., the Acer laptop) at MIT to make over two million downloads from JSTOR. This is more than one hundred times the numb…

Basing whether or not Aaron's actions were "wire fraud" based on quantity doesn't really make sense. Saying he downloaded more than other users at MIT is really just saying other people requested less files than he did. I remember when I needed academic papers, I stopped using my institution's access to JSTOR because frequently the same paper could be found (legally) using Google Scholar or similar. As academia switc…

This is what I mean by bonkers: nobody is "basing the legality on quantity". You made that up. I didn't say that. The indictment didn't say that. The law doesn't say that.

As it seems your concern for fact starts and ends with the considerably less relevant quantity of JSTOR employee compensation, I see no reason go on.

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#305

Post by _delirium »

qq66 wrote: post #264
rhizome wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evidently you're unaware of MIT's history of pranks.

Even with MIT's charitable (but declining) tolerance towards student hacking/pranking, they take a very dim view of non-students doing the same (even alumni).

There used to be considerable tolerance of Harvard students doing pranks at MIT also, since Harvard/MIT had a bit of a prank-exchange rivalry (though MIT students engaging in shenanigans on the Harvard campus is more common than vice-versa).

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#306

Post by _delirium »

queensnake wrote: post #266

I'm probably Advocating Crime but, couldn't a bunch of people coordinate and do what he was doing, over a year or two, distributed, from several universities? You totally could. The more, the less noticeable, and punishable. edit: it wouldn't surprise me if something like that showed up; the problem has been highlighted, the legal issues made clearer, and JSTOR bloodied. Go Aaron.

There's a loosely-organized project at Wikimedia Commons to liberate at least the public-domain works locked up in JSTOR. This almost certainly violates JSTOR access policies, but once downloaded and stripped of their JSTOR title page, it's probably not illegal for the Wikimedia Foundation to host the result, since the result is in the public domain, even if ToS were violated in the document's acquisition.

See: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Scanned_English_t...

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#307

Post by keane »

GHFigs wrote: post #304
keane wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basing whether or not Aaron's actions were "wire fraud" based on quantity doesn't really make sense. Saying he downloaded more than other users at MIT is really just saying other people requested less files than he did. I remember when I needed academic papers, I stopped using my institution's access to JSTOR because frequently the same paper could be found (legally) using Google Scholar or similar. As academia switc…

This is what I mean by bonkers: nobody is "basing the legality on quantity". You made that up. I didn't say that. The indictment didn't say that. The law doesn't say that. As it seems your concern for fact starts and ends with the considerably less relevant quantity of JSTOR employee compensation, I see no reason go on.

One of the summary findings of the indictment does seem to suggest that quantity was a factor: "[The] defendant, AARON SWARTZ, knowingly and with intent to defraud, accessed a protected computer... in excess of authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthered the intended fraud".

JSTOR's salary rate is really the least of my concerns (though wasteful bureaucracy in the non-profit industry does concern me in general and tangentially relates to this story). My concern is over the US federal government pursuing felony charges when a researcher violated a website's terms of service statement. I'm sorry you received any other impression.

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#308

Post by goombastic »

microarchitect wrote: post #303
tessro wrote: post #103

Demand Progress PAC's website is down, but they released a statement: (from: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9k5ryiX... ) Cambridge, MA– Moments ago, Aaron Swartz, former executive director and founder of Demand Progress, was indicted by the US government. As best as we can tell, he is being charged with allegedly downloading too many scholarly journal articles from the Web. The government conten…

“This makes no sense,” said Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal; “it’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.” No it's not. It's like sneaking into the library at night and making photocopies of all the books. Then, upon getting caught, the perpetrator sneaks back into the library in a different disguise and continues to photocopy more books. Repeat thi…

Not a downvoter, but the way governments are reacting to those demanding transparency is what I call draconian. This is no longer symmetric opposition, this is a way of terrorizing those who want a little more freedom. Faced with obstacles as the one Aaron faced, I would do the same. So sue me.

Disobedience is not the same as terrorism although they would like you to think so. Disproportionate punishments are what I term a terrorist act. Stop being such a conformist and stop using their language. Every time you test these boundaries and fight for it you will be fighting for your freedoms.

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#309

Post by microarchitect »

goombastic wrote: post #308
microarchitect wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“This makes no sense,” said Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal; “it’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.” No it's not. It's like sneaking into the library at night and making photocopies of all the books. Then, upon getting caught, the perpetrator sneaks back into the library in a different disguise and continues to photocopy more books. Repeat thi…

Not a downvoter, but the way governments are reacting to those demanding transparency is what I call draconian. This is no longer symmetric opposition, this is a way of terrorizing those who want a little more freedom. Faced with obstacles as the one Aaron faced, I would do the same. So sue me. Disobedience is not the same as terrorism although they would like you to think so. Disproportionate punishments are what I…

Fair enough. I agree with most of what you're saying here. I definitely believe that any punishment involving more than a fine and/or some community service would be disproportionate to the crime here.

What I didn't like was the statement portraying him as some kind of hero. I'm just pointing out that he's not. He didn't have a legal right to be using the documents, he shouldn't have been trying to download the documents using a guest account at MIT obtained by submitting false information, and he certainly shouldn't have tried to get back into the network after being banned multiple times.

If his goal was to put a lot of scientific papers into the public domain, I can think of many other ways he could have achieved this. So I'm also a bit puzzled by his approach here.

Stop being such a conformist and stop using their language.

This attack seems rather uncalled for.

Every time you test these boundaries and fight for it you will be fighting for your freedoms.

I can see where you're coming from on this, but I'm not entirely convinced that you're right.

Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs

#310

Post by asciilifeform »

hadley wrote: post #272
_delirium wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's further harming the possibilities of being an independent scholar or even reading academic literature outside academia, though, which I think is a significant detriment to academia. I'm not as worried about the $50k a university library has to pay, but if you're an independent scholar for even one year, it becomes clear how harmful to the research community JSTOR is. Journals that used to sell archive access to…

Many university libraries allow to you join as a "friend" of the library, which typically costs ~$100/year and gives you full access to all library resources.

Most such libraries will restrict your use in some serious way (compared to what proper campus members get.)

For example, the University of Maryland will let you check out books and no more.

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