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Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

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Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#21

Post by tptacek »

mukaiji wrote: post #17

RANT: Anyone here interested in the underlying issue of academic publishing? To me, the very notion that publicly (or privately for that matter) funded academic research gets locked behind paywalls of organizations that have not contributed financially to the research endeavor published, seems like irony to me. In short, they pay not a single dime to produce the content, charge the researchers to have their submissio…

I agree. Researchers should stop entering into contracts with organizations like Elsevier.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#22

Post by thaumaturgy »

ajross wrote: post #6
thaumaturgy wrote: post #4

Just FYI, this is often a prosecutorial bargaining tactic for dealing with an uncooperative defendant (based on personal experience, anyway). That said, I wish articles like this one would quit making the rounds. It's macabre theater and isn't doing aaronsw any favors.

Is the goal to do aaronsw favors? This is pretty clearly newsworthy. I think you can ding the reporting for missing important subtleties and lacking context (i.e. the fact that the downloaded material wasn't covered by a JSTOR copyright somehow gets skipped!). But arguing that we should plug our ears to news about a case with clear impact to the community because it might look bad for the defendent is just ... weird.…

The "goal" is to not be a group of spectators in a gladiatorial arena in which one of our own has to do battle with the government's lions. That's all -- just a matter of regard for a fellow human being. It's exactly the same reason I don't rubberneck at the scenes of grisly accidents and why I think the paparazzi are scum.

I disagree that this case has a clear impact on our community, or that this article -- or most of the others about this case -- are newsworthy.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#23

Post by tptacek »

ojbyrne wrote: post #16
tptacek wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does ratcheting up the charges minimize the embarassment to the DOJ if Aaron is ultimately vindicated?

Presumably they're ratcheting up the pressure on Aaron to accept a plea bargain.

That sounds plausible; also, isn't this what happens after plea negotiations fail?

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#24

Post by danielweber »

mukaiji wrote: post #17

RANT: Anyone here interested in the underlying issue of academic publishing? To me, the very notion that publicly (or privately for that matter) funded academic research gets locked behind paywalls of organizations that have not contributed financially to the research endeavor published, seems like irony to me. In short, they pay not a single dime to produce the content, charge the researchers to have their submissio…

organizations that have not contributed financially to the research

charge the researchers to have their submission reviewed and published,

As you point out, they are providing a valuable service. The research is peer-reviewed and published.

You can argue that they aren't needed in the modern peer-to-peer wikiresearch napster world, where anyone can just publish their research wherever they want.

If the researchers don't want their research behind the paywall, they are not forced into the transaction. They must be finding the value-add of the "peer-review and publish" significant enough to give up publishing rights elsewhere.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#25

Post by paulgb »

tptacek wrote: post #21
mukaiji wrote: post #17

RANT: Anyone here interested in the underlying issue of academic publishing? To me, the very notion that publicly (or privately for that matter) funded academic research gets locked behind paywalls of organizations that have not contributed financially to the research endeavor published, seems like irony to me. In short, they pay not a single dime to produce the content, charge the researchers to have their submissio…

I agree. Researchers should stop entering into contracts with organizations like Elsevier.

Moreover, taxpayers should be upset that they're paying for research for which the copyrights are readily handed over to private organizations.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#26

Post by raldi »

Domenic_S wrote: post #15
tptacek wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What?

Step 1: Write a ToS for your private entity Step 2: Catch someone violating it Step 3: Sic the Feds (government) on them for violating it (your private, unvetted agreement). (no comment from me personally, but I think that's what the GP was saying.)

I'm pretty sure sneaking into a server closet and patching your computer into their network was already against the law before this incident happened.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#27

Post by Anechoic »

danielweber wrote: post #24
mukaiji wrote: post #17

RANT: Anyone here interested in the underlying issue of academic publishing? To me, the very notion that publicly (or privately for that matter) funded academic research gets locked behind paywalls of organizations that have not contributed financially to the research endeavor published, seems like irony to me. In short, they pay not a single dime to produce the content, charge the researchers to have their submissio…

organizations that have not contributed financially to the research charge the researchers to have their submission reviewed and published, As you point out, they are providing a valuable service. The research is peer-reviewed and published. You can argue that they aren't needed in the modern peer-to-peer wikiresearch napster world, where anyone can just publish their research wherever they want. If the researchers d…

The research is peer-reviewed and published.

IME, those organizations generally don't provide the peer-reviewers and the peer-reviewers aren't paid.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#28

Post by ksmiley »

tptacek wrote: post #11
throwaway64 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the idea that violating terms of service constitutes "hacking" is very dangerous in general. Get your pay-pal account suspended? you could now potentially be facing federal felony charges.

How? How would getting your Paypal account suspended put you at risk for federal criminal charges?

I didn't read the article, but I imagine the parent poster's logic is like this: if your Paypal account is suspended, you must have done something to violate the terms of service. If you violate the terms of service, you must be a hacker. If you are a hacker, you are at risk for federal criminal charges. Therefore, if your Paypal account is suspended, you are at risk for federal criminal charges.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#29

Post by drcube »

danielweber wrote: post #24
mukaiji wrote: post #17

RANT: Anyone here interested in the underlying issue of academic publishing? To me, the very notion that publicly (or privately for that matter) funded academic research gets locked behind paywalls of organizations that have not contributed financially to the research endeavor published, seems like irony to me. In short, they pay not a single dime to produce the content, charge the researchers to have their submissio…

organizations that have not contributed financially to the research charge the researchers to have their submission reviewed and published, As you point out, they are providing a valuable service. The research is peer-reviewed and published. You can argue that they aren't needed in the modern peer-to-peer wikiresearch napster world, where anyone can just publish their research wherever they want. If the researchers d…

> As you point out, they are providing a valuable service. The research is peer-reviewed and published.

How is that a valuable service? Millions of people do that for free on the web every day. Hell, I'm doing it right now.

Re: Aaron Swartz hit with 9 more felony charges in MIT hacking case

#30

Post by thaumaturgy »

tptacek wrote: post #23
ojbyrne wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably they're ratcheting up the pressure on Aaron to accept a plea bargain.

That sounds plausible; also, isn't this what happens after plea negotiations fail?

Yes.
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