

What I Would Do, If Facing 35 Years For BS Crimes. - jorgecastillo

I am not a US citizen, I am a Mexican (living in Mexico). Although most of the countries in the world, will pull down their pants and bend over for the USA, there are still a few nations with backbone (Russia, Venezuela, Ecuador, China, Iran, Cuba, NKorea). It is certainly possible that you could get political asylum in any of this countries. Even if you think you couldn't get out of the USA, when there is a will there is a way. Drug smugglers have it harder than ever, to cross goods and people over to the USA but they still manage, if there is a way in there is a way out. If political asylum is not granted you could still hide and have several years of freedom, despite all the technology, money, power &#38; bought governments the USA has. Seriously if you are going to die you might as well die fighting, if your own country is going to turn its back on you, do the same.
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pavel_lishin
What exactly would Aaron have done in North Korea if he chose to seek asylum
there?

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jorgecastillo
Any nation where computers are used needs talented hackers, and AFAIK this guy
was one. NKorea was my last choice if you noticed.

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kiskis
and then how do you escape when Kim Jong-un decides that it's better for you
to be in a labor camp?

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danso
The choice that Aaron faced was not a fight-or-die-trying. The persecution by
the government was a contributing factor in addition to his existing
depression. Many face harsher prosecutions (as you've noted) without
committing suicide. And many commit suicide without facing any prosecutions.
Simply escaping his judicial fight here would not have been the end to what
Aaron was suffering on a personal level.

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jorgecastillo
>Seriously if you are going to die you might as well die fighting...

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orionblastar
You cannot leave the USA while being instigated for a crime like that. They
take away your passport, you are put on a no-fly list, and not allowed to
leave the county.

You'd have to assume a fake name, get a fake passport, and hope that
inspectors don't notice everything is fake. Either that or join some human
smuggling ring and be shipped in cargo containers on ships with oxygen tanks
or something, which is very risky and you could die.

Aaron Swartz was not about running away, he did fight it as best he could. He
made the decision to die a free man, before they took his freedom away.

The Internet is a neutral zone, no one country controls it, but many do try.
The Internet was designed to be free, and distribute free information and
knowledge to encourage people to learn and grow. Now that it has become
commercialized with paywalls, government monitoring, and making an 'example'
out of someone who downloaded one too many articles and journals with a web
robot (the same thing Google does but the government does not care about it)
by legally railroading him in the legal system without a fair trial or one
solid shred of evidence so The Internet is slowly becoming a prison, being
locked down one site at a time, our rights, freedoms, and liberties are being
taken away so private companies can profit from it. Information and knowledge
that used to be free, now costs money, and if you want anything you'll have to
pay for it as far as the government is concerned the free-ride is over.

