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Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

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Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#61

Post by GHFigs »

carussell wrote: post #48
GHFigs wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...person who was downloading public domain documents... I hate being pedantic[1] but I keep seeing people make this mistake: JSTOR is not just public domain works, and there is no indication that the downloading was limited to public domain works. I think people are getting confused due to the release (by someone else) of a torrent of public domain material from JSTOR, but that's not a torrent of what Aaron download…

"I hate being pedantic[1] but I keep seeing people make this mistake: JSTOR is not just public domain works, and there is no indication that the downloading was limited to public domain works." I'd like to tweak the presentation here. Many of the comments I keep seeing (including here on HN) seem to go with the take that 1. That it positively did include works that weren't in the public domain. There doesn't seem to…

1. That it positively did include works that weren't in the public domain. There doesn't seem to be any indication that this is the case.

It's stated in the Wired article that "much of what Swartz is accused of downloading from JSTOR is copyrighted".

It's stated in JSTOR's statement that "The downloaded content included more than 4 million articles, book reviews, and other content from our publisher partners' academic journals and other publications". (Elsewhere the size of the total JSTOR library is said to be over 6 million.)

The indictment states that downloads included "approximately 4.8 million articles, a major portion of the total archive in which JSTOR had invested. Of these, approximately 1.7 million were made available by independent publishers for purchase through JSTOR's Publisher Sales Service."

2. That Swartz intended to distribute content downloaded from JSTOR not in the public domain.

I'll grant that the absence of detail on this claim in the indictment makes it very debatable. However, it's hard to fit any explanation about his intentions to the facts as we know them without making major assumptions about information we don't have.

For instance, many people assume the downloading was for legitimate research. Not unreasonable on the face of it (given, as you say, credentials and history) but then, why does a Harvard research fellow need to covertly access JSTOR from MIT? And not just access, but download two thirds of it? There may be an entirely legitimate answer to that, but if so, it can't be gleaned from the information we currently have available.

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#62

Post by pak »

_delirium wrote: post #40
pak wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the anti-cop contingent from reddit has finally arrived. Seriously, for your sake, I hope you are just trolling.

If you haven't noticed police skepticism on HN until now, you haven't been paying a lot of attention! It tends to go across the civil-liberties-leaning political spectrum. Before the left-leaning Reddit had a subreddit on cop abuses, the libertarian magazine Reason (reason.com) had them as a regular feature. And of course many of us read Bruce Sterling's The Hacker Crackdown as kids, and I wouldn't say that I mainly…

There's nothing wrong with police skepticism or discussing libertarianism. Calling cops dumb and fat and saying you can avoid arrest by running faster... ehmm... what the hell passes for intelligent discussion on here now?

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#63

Post by burgerbrain »

tedunangst wrote: post #60
burgerbrain wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And all of those are instances of unjust punishment.

I'm reminded of the Boston Legal episode where the defendant kills his mother and they argue that he's not a danger to society because he only had one mother and is therefore not going to repeat his crime. More seriously, I'm not sure if I should interpret your statement to mean that white collar criminals are dangerous or that they should never go to jail.

Someone mentally unhinged enough to kill his own mother clearly is a danger to society though, unless there was a strong case that she deserved it. In that case, sure. No sense in putting him in physical harms way by putting him in jail.

Imprisonment as a punishment is a horrendously barbaric concept, particularly considering the current state of the American prison system. White collar criminals, or any color collar, if not a physical danger to society, should never be sent into those hellholes.

Prisons should be used solely for isolation. People like Charles Manson clearly need to be detained. Treatment, where deemed possible and necessary, should be done in proper medical facilities. People who don't need treatment and are not a danger to society should be in neither.

If their crimes are financial, punish them financially. Strip them of their assets and garnish their wages. It works for deadbeat parents (who I absolutely oppose putting into prisons).

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#64

Post by Mizza »

bootload wrote: post #43
Mizza wrote: post #2

>The two MIT officers and Special Agent Pickett then tried to stop Swartz, who jumped off his bike and ran away, only to be caught and handcuffed by the Secret Service Agent, according to the report. RUN FASTER. I really can't stress this enough. The reason he got caught is because he didn't run fast enough. If you're going to do stuff like this, LEARN TO RUN FAST. Cops are fat and slow. You can usually get away from…

"... RUN FASTER. I really can't stress this enough. The reason he got caught is because he didn't run fast enough. If you're going to do stuff like this, LEARN TO RUN FAST. Cops are fat and slow. ..." Got COM?

COM?

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#65

Post by woodrow »

cookiecaper wrote: post #6
noonespecial wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about the most basic IDS on the laptop? He really should have know it was taken from the closet (and its network connection) and then replaced. Personally, I'd have been more patient and used wifi. Or one of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheevaPlug

It's hard to believe they'd go to all of this effort to catch someone who'd placed a laptop in an unmarked closet. There was no indication that a student was not allowed in the area, according to my reading. In hindsight we can think of lots of ways to defend against this kind of detection, but which of us would really think they would get the Secret Service involved to catch a person who was downloading public domai…

This is a photo of the closet: http://i51.tinypic.com/2v96u61.jpg.

This doesn't look particularly welcoming, and there's no norm at MIT that suggests it's okay to enter locked IS&T wiring closets.

Also, FYI, this warning is on pretty much every door of the Institute: http://i51.tinypic.com/23hlsft.jpg

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#66

Post by eli »

ajross wrote: post #19
eli wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not unusual. The Secret Service has a very long history of investigating computer crimes.

Indeed. They're almost solely responsible for protecting us from the hacker scourge of role playing and card game vendors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games,_Inc._v._Un...

I was thinking more like he carding and identity theft websites they've shut down, but sure

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#67

Post by burgerbrain »

pak wrote: post #62
_delirium wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you haven't noticed police skepticism on HN until now, you haven't been paying a lot of attention! It tends to go across the civil-liberties-leaning political spectrum. Before the left-leaning Reddit had a subreddit on cop abuses, the libertarian magazine Reason (reason.com) had them as a regular feature. And of course many of us read Bruce Sterling's The Hacker Crackdown as kids, and I wouldn't say that I mainly…

There's nothing wrong with police skepticism or discussing libertarianism. Calling cops dumb and fat and saying you can avoid arrest by running faster... ehmm... what the hell passes for intelligent discussion on here now?

"saying you can avoid arrest by running faster"

Is that false? If they cannot catch you, how can they arrest you?

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#68

Post by code_duck »

idlewords wrote: post #58
code_duck wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His crime is also having those good intentions relate to opposing the current political establishment.

There's no proof whatsoever that this arrest was politically motivated. aaronsw's furtive behavior really muddies the waters here - if my sysadmin found a similar laptop in a server closet I would also have called the cops.

I agree, his arrest was probably not politically motivated. However, I believe the way the authorities proceed with prosecution and punishment will be influenced by Aaron's other activities.

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#69

Post by knieveltech »

jamesbritt wrote: post #52
_delirium wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To really increase the realism of the metaphor, in the future when such content is stolen, they should refuse to serve it to library users. They could explain that, regrettably, the journal issue I seek is currently missing due to a recent theft, and assure me that they are working as fast as possible to recover the stolen documents.

My local library is like that. I've had to wait on checking out a PDF because all available copies were taken. Yay, future!

Pleas please please tell me this is a joke? Set numbers of PDF checkouts? I don't know if I should weep or vomit.

Re: Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says

#70

Post by wisty »

gst wrote: post #41
dsmithn wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but crimes that have the potential to benefit people without hurting anyone else?

Some of them - not all. Just look at all those drug-related laws.

Drugs still hurt people. DOSing a library doesn't. Obviously that depends on which drugs and how many, and maybe the laws are a little "one-size-fits-all" here.
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