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Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
51–60 of 324 posts
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which of the HN guidelines does this violate?
None of them. I think you'd be doing Aaron a favor to kill it, though.
Yeah, let him become desaparecido in obscurity.
Nacht und Nebel.
What a "favor."
Do you really think that he will be invited to post incriminating comments here from his jail cell?
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#53Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#54What is a Grand Jury? - http://grandjuryresistance.org/grandjuries.html
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#55This was a good reminder of the importance of physical security.
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#56Why the hell is MIT stashing information in closed systems in first place? I thought the idea (OCW etc.) was to enable more people to learn, participate and benefit from work of academics and researchers. Hell I even donate a few hundred bucks every now and then to OCW.
It is mind boggling how the supposedly smart people are not getting their heads out of their asses so late in a world frighteningly short on distribution of knowledge that can be effectively used to solve the wicked problems that are crippling it for so long.
We really need a global, openly accessible knowledge network and a platform where all eligible can contribute and collaborate to research at least when it comes to areas that impact human society at large - medicines, natural resources etc. It is hard otherwise to see how things like Cancer and Energy shortage can be tackled.
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#57This is the most technically competent charging document I've ever read. I guess there must have been some hackers on the grand jury. Paragraph 35 & 36: which "protected computer" on MIT's network did he access? Certainly they're not trying to claim his laptop was a protected computer? Are they talking about the DHCP server or whatever registration frontend MIT has for the DHCP assignments? I have trouble with the co…
> no operative security barriers in place I don't know... Even if my front door was open, you still aren't allowed to enter my house without my permission.
But there is an element of permission inherent in DHCP. Your device is actively configuring my device specifically to allow network access. It's not an open door; it's a sign saying "This way please". That said, its obvious this was an attempt to circumvent access controls.
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#58This is the most technically competent charging document I've ever read. I guess there must have been some hackers on the grand jury. Paragraph 35 & 36: which "protected computer" on MIT's network did he access? Certainly they're not trying to claim his laptop was a protected computer? Are they talking about the DHCP server or whatever registration frontend MIT has for the DHCP assignments? I have trouble with the co…
I suppose the router could be construed as a protected computer, since it had blacklisted his MAC address and it is a computer with an OS.
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#59The repeated use of "stole" in the indictment is interesting, even beyond the usual metaphorical usage to discuss copyright infringement. In this case, the indictment alleges that the documents were stolen from JSTOR , which does not even own them! In the vast majority of cases JSTOR scanned documents whose copyright is owned by someone else, and acquired or was donated a non-exclusive license to distribute copies vi…
They are talking about theft of services, not copyright infringement. In any event these charges are going to be very difficult to beat since they're federal, even though there are some obvious holes in the indictment. It will be almost impossible to get any of the evidence thrown out even if there was an illegal search and seizure. His best bet is probably to get the Harvard legal team to go to bat for him, although…
I wasn't really commenting on the legal sufficiency of the indictment, just the rhetorical dishonesty of accusing someone of "steal[ing] well over 4,000,000 articles from JSTOR" (quote from the indictment) when JSTOR didn't own those articles. They could've just alleged violation of JSTOR's TOS and thereby theft of network services. I suspect JSTOR or people sympathetic to them had a hand in writing the indictment, though; JSTOR has a long history of attempting to spread the misinformation that it somehow "owns" its archive.
Re: Aaronsw indicted for hacking MIT network to download millions of JSTOR docs
#60The indictment asserts that Mr. Swartz intended to distribute the files downloaded but did not substantiate this claim. I wonder what proof they have of this? (There are, of course, a great many laws dealing with probable intent that need only convince a jury of said intent without demonstrating it's validity.)
The indictment doesn't have to provide all the evidence presented to the Grand Jury, and the Grand Jury process itself is secret (the actual court case won't be).