Why do they call it a prank? My impression is what was nothing of the sort.
Alternatively, to avoid labeling the JSTOR downloads as a hack, which has different connotations for Harpers' readers and the public in general as it does here.
Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
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Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#12"Her prospects look grim. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.)"... And that's when everyone should stop reading. Issa is a tea party loon.
Ad hominem.
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#13Ortiz will answer for her actions, perhaps not as a matter of law, but certainly as a matter of common sense and decency.
No one should be exempt from behaving like a decent human being, and one does not need to break the law in order to be fired for executing poor judgment.
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#14Why do they call it a prank? My impression is what was nothing of the sort.
It's true that it didn't have the same intent as a prank. However, purely in terms of his actions, I can easily imagine students doing much more intrusive and ToS breaking things than Aaron did on an university network to execute a prank.
Downloading from a network in a manner that violates the network's ToS would make for a particularly tame prank.
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#15"Her prospects look grim. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.)"... And that's when everyone should stop reading. Issa is a tea party loon.
It's all too easy to dismiss someone completely based on their politics, but this(and government overreach in general) is one of the issues that the left and right should be able to come together on.
Remember, Issa was one of the leading voices in Congress against SOPA.
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#16Why do they call it a prank? My impression is what was nothing of the sort.
Alternatively, to avoid labeling the JSTOR downloads as a hack, which has different connotations for Harpers' readers and the public in general as it does here.
It definitely wasn't a "hack", though I wouldn't call it a prank either.
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#17This is a very intelligent, informed summary of the mounting case against the prosecutors. The author minces no words when describing Ortiz' and Heymann's strategy of charging Swartz with a battery of preposterous charges with the express intent of making any action except accepting a plea bargain (and thereby pleading guilty to all charges) the only reasonable approach: "[T]hey assumed that the risk of their success…
This.
While Ortiz will be the convenient (and rightful, I suppose) scapegoat in this instance, she's a symptom of the problem and not the cause. There are far more fundamental problems with the DoJ, and until they're addressed (time and cost of mounting a defence, overly aggressive prosecutions, lack of oversight and discretion), nothing will change.
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#18It is now taken as an article of truth that Ortiz drove him to suicide. Is there any direct evidence that he did it because of the prosecution or is it only assumed?
Re: Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out
#19I agree with the sentiment here, but some of the specific claims are certainly wince-worthy. College prank? Greatest prodigy of his generation? Little to no commercial value? All those claims are a lot more complicated than that! Not to mention it makes it sound like Ortiz was cooking this all up behind closed doors and everyone else was shocked! shocked! to realize how the "prosecutorial misconduct" had gotten out o…
This is probably the most worrying issue with this article. It places the blame on two individuals who are characterized as out of control instead of a system that is out of control. The entire system needs to be held accountable and corrected and those highlighted as having benefited their careers through this widespread misconduct should be individually held accountable just like individuals were held accountable at Nuremberg. Participation in a corrupt system and going along with the corruption is acceptable for peons, but not for people are high up in the DoJ as Ortiz and Heynmann. They had the power and discretion to correct the course of the out of control prosecutorial train, but instead chose to proceed full steam ahead.