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Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

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Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#41

Post by genwin »

rdl wrote: post #38
genwin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone wants to solicit support to fight their battles. I can see why Aaron chose suicide. I wish he had fled to one of the few places in the world where American depravity couldn't effectively kill him, but I can see why he didn't.

Realistically, he could have just gone ~anywhere outside the US and probably wouldn't have been pursued too aggressively.

Accused of a crime thought so horrific it warrants 30 years in prison, I doubt that. The US has grabbed people on the other side of the world for lesser charges.

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#42

Post by lizzard »

igravious wrote: post #36

I don't think that I've ever seen anything like this (the sheer number of submissions related to one event) on HN before. I, like most others, follow the tussle between those who desire a world where the barrier to access information is lower and those who want to copyright, lock up and monetize all the information that we generate. Most of the time I feel that it is like a high tech soap opera but this events brings…

Very good question. And I agree with you. There are people all around us, crushed every day.

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#43

Post by paulgb »

mhartl wrote: post #17
toyg wrote: post #4

Fuck yes, make them bleed. I can understand a US Attorney being reckless, but I cannot believe MIT would act so cowardly. If not even hacker-friendly institutions like MIT will side with people like Aaron, it's a sad state of affairs.

I'm reminded of the time MIT threw Star Simpson under a bus when she wore a breadboard on a sweatshirt to Logan Airport and the local authorities freaked: http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html At least some faculty got it: http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N17/facultyopn.html

For what it's worth, they seem to have handled MBTA v Anderson well in 2008 (http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N31/subway.html)

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#44

Post by swalsh »

igravious wrote: post #36

I don't think that I've ever seen anything like this (the sheer number of submissions related to one event) on HN before. I, like most others, follow the tussle between those who desire a world where the barrier to access information is lower and those who want to copyright, lock up and monetize all the information that we generate. Most of the time I feel that it is like a high tech soap opera but this events brings…

"Is this naive of me but would it be possible to set up some kind of fund or foundation that could provide real monetary support to help those that are a braver than the rest of us when they confront the system and as a result get overwhelmed."

I think the EFF would be pretty close to this already.

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#45

Post by ghshephard »

rdl wrote: post #37
ghshephard wrote: post #24

I've been thinking about the family today, and what might have caused Aaron to make such a terrible decision. One thing that caught my attention, was Lessig's comment in his post: " ... Aaron Swartz be labeled a “felon.” For in the 18 months of negotiations, that was what he was not willing to accept, and so that was the reason he was facing a million dollar trial in April — his wealth bled dry, yet unable to appeal…

I want to know who specifically at MIT was involved in this. It seems antithetical to the MIT IT people I know (Jeff Schiller, etc.). There's no hope, really, of replacing the US Attorney Ortiz. MIT, however, actually has some indirect accountability to the tech community.

What would cause an MIT IT executive (and this would have to be an executive decision) to bring in the Secret Service for someone running curl against academic journal website.

I have done precisely that type of thing dozens of times in the last 10 years, and it would have never occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong. And yes, I always had to login first through a browser, figure out how the hell the cookie was stored, export it into a format that curl liked, figure out the URLs for all the docs, etc, etc...

And yes - when I was younger and more energetic, sticking my laptop in unlocked cabinet with an open ethernet port is exactly the sort of thing I would have done, without for a second believing I was doing anything "criminal".

I have to believe that MIT has hundreds (thousands?) of these types of webscraping events occurring all the time.

What made this one different from their perspective?

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#47

Post by rogerthis »

Being a chronic depressed and chronic pain sufferer, I wonder how much problems like these contributed to him killing himself. I think about killing myself everyday. I haven't done it yet because I am a devout Catholic and I believe I can be in a worst place (or better) after death.

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#48

Post by cschmidt »

jhuni wrote: post #13
toyg wrote: post #4

Fuck yes, make them bleed. I can understand a US Attorney being reckless, but I cannot believe MIT would act so cowardly. If not even hacker-friendly institutions like MIT will side with people like Aaron, it's a sad state of affairs.

> If not even hacker-friendly institutions like MIT will side with people like Aaron, it's a sad state of affairs. MIT hasn't been a hacker-friendly institution since the early 1980s which is why Richard Stallman left MIT to found the free software movement.

Did he really leave? His office is in the Stata center at MIT. I thought he was still an unpaid "research associate" at MIT. Is that no longer correct?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_and_Maria_Stata_Center

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#49

Post by rdl »

ghshephard wrote: post #45
rdl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to know who specifically at MIT was involved in this. It seems antithetical to the MIT IT people I know (Jeff Schiller, etc.). There's no hope, really, of replacing the US Attorney Ortiz. MIT, however, actually has some indirect accountability to the tech community.

What would cause an MIT IT executive (and this would have to be an executive decision) to bring in the Secret Service for someone running curl against academic journal website. I have done precisely that type of thing dozens of times in the last 10 years, and it would have never occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong. And yes, I always had to login first through a browser, figure out how the hell the cookie w…

He wasn't a member of the MIT Community, and was in a wiring closet.

If they'd charged him with trespassing, I would have contributed to his legal defense fund and bought him a drink when he finished his ~30 days of community service or whatever. Minimal harm, minimal foul.

I did way worse stuff from my machines at MIT when I was an undergrad. I actually was called to testify in a federal case over it, but told them to eat a bowl of dicks (well, more politely, and through the awesome attorney Jennifer Granick -- I was out of the country and didn't return until the trial was over, because you NEVER win if you set foot in a federal court, even as a witness).

MIT sold out Drink or Die, too, so fuck them in general.

Re: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz

#50

Post by rdl »

bguthrie wrote: post #30
shawn-butler wrote: post #6

I am removing MIT as a benefactor from my will and ceasing donations to the alumni association. I will not reconsider until the institution provides a full accounting and takes responsibility for the actions of its legal counsel in deciding to refer the matter to federal authorities. If you are a current member of the student body or faculty you have a lot more power than me. Please read about this matter and learn w…

For what it's worth, if you're looking for another place to put your money, Aaron appreciated the work that Givewell (givewell.org) is doing. It's worth investigating how you can support them and the charities they endorse.

Hopefully there's a successful civil suit against the Institute, with funds going to Givewell.
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