The 3 Most Absurdly Outdated Internet Laws | Mother Jones

[ghosh]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/3-most-outdated-tech-laws

[mrmekon]

  > internet activist Aaron Swartz, who was threatened with 35 years in
  > prison under the CFAA for allegedly stealing mass amounts of
  > academic articles

Using the word "stealing" at this point is not only wrong, but destroys the very point he was trying to make...

[lifeformed → mrmekon]

Well, it's prefaced by "allegedly".

[barylen → mrmekon]

What was wrong with the word "stealing" in this context?

[RyanMcGreal → barylen]

Copying != stealing. If I steal something from you, you don't have it any more. If I copy something you have, we both have a copy.

[mathgorges → RyanMcGreal]

Also, even if one were to accept copying as stealing, it wouldn't work in this context since Aaron Swartz had legitimate access to JSTOR through Harvard.

[JoshTv]

I don't think those are absurd laws. It will actually protect people from all negativity on the online world.

[chmike → JoshTv]

By "people" you mean US citizen. Non US citizen are not subject to any legitimate legal protection. We are considered like animals or even less.