

I propose an Aaron Swartz act. - drzaiusapelord
http://wh.gov/EOt3

======
malandrew
I don't think this will do much good unless it applies in aggregate. Even if
this act were written and passed, there is nothing stopping a prosecutor with
charging someone with many counts of computer crime and asking a judge to
sentence someone to serving all the sentences back to back if found guilty on
all counts.

------
rprasad
Text:

Propose an Aaron Swartz Act: The purpose of which to limit all computer crime
sentences to 1 year maximum and $100,000.

This act would provide a sensible maximum penalty for what the government
deems "computer crimes." As a society, we all agree that proportionality is
important for non-violent crimes, especially those who we typically prosecute
young people with. Many times these crimes are prosecuted under laws that
aren't well defined and leave a great deal of the implementation and
sentencing to politics, not justice.

Considering it takes at least $1.5 million dollars to attempt to defend
oneself from a federal prosecutor, we can at least try to make sentencing sane
as most federal indictments go into plea bargaining as no one other than the
super-rich can attempt to defend themselves.

~~~
rprasad
This proposal is a really bad idea.

It over-penalizes acts like Aaron's but underpenalizes heinous acts such as
hacking power grids or heart implants.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
Hold on, if I disrupt a power grid or steal your identity, I am already
violating a slew of other laws. The prosecutor should, rightfully, be using
those laws to charge me. If I kill you via your heart implant I get a murder
charge. You can tack on a computer trespass charge if you like but it seems a
little extraneous now doesn't it?

The problem is having a vague law(s) from the 1980s kinda sorting defining
computer trespassing and the antiquated "wiretapping" means we probably
violate this law hundreds if not thousands times a day. Ever guess your own
password because you forgot it? Or run nmap on a netblock? Those are,
arguably, technical violations of legislation. At least as much as waltzing
into MIT and downloading a whole bunch of PDFs.

>It over-penalizes acts like Aaron's but underpenalizes heinous acts

Well, I'd rather have 1 year than 35, wouldn't you? This proposal is still
loads better than the status quo.

~~~
cookingrobot
How about they just get rid of the concept of a "computer crime"? Crimes
should be based on the harm they cause, not just the tools used. There's no
"shoe crime" committed when someone puts on shoes and walks to a bank robbery.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
Oh, I'd greatly prefer that, but I imagine this is more politically practical.

