
Lawmakers slam DOJ prosecution of Swartz as 'ridiculous, absurd' - wilfra
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/277353-lawmakers-blast-trumped-up-doj-prosecution-of-internet-activist
======
beatpanda
" Now that it is politically advantageous for them to do so, and their actions
can have no practical effect, lawmakers slam DOJ prosecution of Swartz as
'ridiculous, absurd' "

~~~
adastra
If you want a member of congress to act on something, you have to ask them.
That's how the system works. If you don't put in the effort, their time is
spent on the thousands of other people clamoring for their attention who were
more motivated and passionate than you were.

Really didn't want to bring this up, but I actually floated the idea of the
community pursuing a political strategy to help Aaron here on HN:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529907>

The suggestion didn't get many upvotes, and was utterly belittled by one of
HN's most prolific posters. Something to keep in mind before you ridicule the
small number of representatives who are actually friendly to tech. (To be
clear, I could have taken action myself anyway, and I didn't find the time.
That's on me.)

It's really, really unfortunate that this is the top comment.

~~~
etherael
This is probably the top comment because the zeitgeist is that the system is
broken and making nice with it is a failing strategy.

~~~
adastra
So engaging the system would have resulted in an outcome that is worse than
what actually happened? I don't think so.

It's a false choice. You can engage the system and change it at the same time.
Of course you can.

~~~
beatpanda
In my experience, the more you engage with the system, the more willing you
are to rationalize or even overlook its failings.

~~~
adastra
I've spent time doing both, and I think we're just going to have to agree to
disagree.

------
sethbannon
The key bit is where Rep Issa says “whether or not there was excessive
prosecution is something we’ll look at.” This means, thankfully, that we'll be
seeing some form of congressional investigation of Aaron's prosecution.

Confirmed here: [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/darrell-issa-
aaron-...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/darrell-issa-aaron-swartz-
_n_2481450.html)

~~~
rprasad
When a legislator say they will "look" at something, it means they don't
intend to actually _do_ anything about it but are simply attempting to pacify
their constituents by promising _something_.

~~~
pemulis
But in the case of Darrell Issa, we have a Congressman who,

A) Worked with Aaron Swartz to fight SOPA,

B) Sits on the House Judiciary Committee, and

C) Has a history of hauling the Justice Department before Congress.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Jared Polis are also on the House Judiciary
Committee, and could potentially lend bipartisan support to any investigation.

~~~
newbie12
Rep. Issa is the real deal, he's a special member of Congress. He's a
California tech entrepreneur and also voted against the TARP bailouts.

<http://issa.house.gov/about/about-darrell>

~~~
joeguilmette
He was also responsible for the absurdist witch hunt that resulted in the
impeachment of Gray Davis.

------
SoftwareMaven
_a "martyr" for why Congress should limit the discretion of prosecutors._

Not going to lie, that sentence chills my bones. Lack of judicial discretion
got us minimum sentences in the "war" on drugs. I don't have much faith that
lack of any prosecutorial discretion will turn out much better.

This is a power grab by congress, nothing more.

------
TDL
“It's absurd that he was made a scapegoat. I would hope that this doesn't
happen to anyone else.”

This type of shit happens every day. This is how prosecutors in this country
operate.

------
pemulis
If you want a legislative response, now is the time to write to your
representatives. The EFF has an easy tool to send the appropriate people a
message:

[https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KE...](https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9005)

The prefilled text is about the CFAA, but you can change it to say whatever
you want before sending it. Don't feel apathetic, or think that you can't make
a difference. One thing Aaron Swartz showed us is that Congress can be made to
listen to the public, if we are loud enough.

------
il
Contacting your representatives can make a difference. We saw it with SOPA and
now we see it here.

Now we, as a community, need to keep up the pressure on lawmakers and make
sure meaningful reforms are passed to make sure something like this never,
ever happens again.

------
superbaconman
This happens all the time. Many face long sentences while innocent. How many
innocent people are sitting behind bars today because they thought no one
would ever believe them in court? I expect the number is small, but that does
not change the circumstances of this case. Only the most immoral of our
society could ever put a man in a cage because of a copied file. They equate
their justice to morality, but in the end they only show the very nature of
the animal within themselves. Man is a cunning and advantageous creature, the
most deadly of them all.

------
Tycho
So what happens now if the prosecutor commits suicide, after being singled out
by an Internet mob for doing his/her job?

------
michaelfeathers
No mention of plea bargain reform. That's the real issue.

~~~
mindslight
Or the extreme resource imbalance between prosecution and defendant that makes
the threat of trial all the more powerful. What about at least:

1\. Maximum sentence cannot be more than twice any offered plea bargain.

2\. Making the counts non-severable. Or the defense only needs to win half of
them to be cleared of all charges. Something needs to discourage stacking on
limitless ridiculous charges and hoping some stick.

3\. The government needs to cover the expenses for the defense, limited to the
amount spent on the prosecution. (this doesn't seem politically palatable, but
it needs to be addressed somehow)

Yeah, these things are large meta-issues that aren't a political shoe-in. But
pretending that merely amending the CFAA would have prevented this from
happening is wishful thinking.

Also, making TOS's inapplicable (which, didn't anyone see this coming with
Lori Drew? But I digress..) wouldn't have stopped the prosecution in this case
from claiming that simple trespass into an unlocked network closet should be
considered felony federal "unauthorized access to communication network".

~~~
tedunangst
1\. Minimum plea bargain cannot be less than half of maximum? What about
crimes where the sentencing guidelines are already spanning 2x? That would
mean you could get a lighter sentence by going to trial than the minimum plea.

~~~
mindslight
Of course you can get a lighter sentence by going to trial - by being
acquitted.

And no, it would not work that way, because if you had an open and shut case
with a plausible sentence of 20 years, prosecutors wouldn't or at least
_shouldn't_ be offering plea bargains of under 10 years.

------
jacoblyles
>“We're looking at the real question of open government,” Issa said. “Has the
government or even MIT been holding back materials that the public has a right
to know?”

>Issa said he wanted to make sure “that what is paid for is as widely
available as possible to the American people.”

It's good to see lawmakers paying attention to Open Access. While it is
important to make sure that the unscrupulous practices of the Department of
Justice are curtailed, it is also important that people pick up and carry on
Aaron's campaign for Open Access.

I am upset not just because Aaron was treated unfairly, but because he was
treated unfairly for doing the right thing. Freedom of Information is at the
core of Internet values, and that's what Aaron fought for.

~~~
rayiner
Help me, I can't find "freedom of information" in either RFC 791 or RFC 793.

~~~
nitrogen
_Help me, I can't find "freedom of information" in either RFC 791 or RFC 793._

Come on, don't be _that guy_. You know when someone says "freedom of
information is at the core of the Internet's values" they're really saying
that freedom of information is at the core of the values of the people who
worked hard to build and promote it (see Vint Cerf's recent statements about
the ITU conference: [http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/04/vint-cerf-save-the-
interne...](http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/04/vint-cerf-save-the-internet/)),
not that the RFCs defining the Internet Protocol include those exact words.

~~~
rayiner
My point is that the Internet does not come packed with an ideology, the
personal politics of some of its creators aside.

~~~
nitrogen
To those of us who grew up with the Internet as our hometown and BBSes as our
place of birth, it sure seems to have an inherent ideology just by its very
structure.

------
scottm45
Lets not forget he broke the law wether you or I think that what he did was
for the benefit for good of the people or not. Laws are laws and what do I
tell my children it's ok to break the law if your an activist. Making a saint
out of basically a criminal because he believed in Internet freedom is insane.
Who did this guy think he was Robin Hood. I think healthcare should be free
should I steal money and give it to those without insurance. No, I can tell
you this no person in government has the right to do anything but uphold the
law. If the laws aren't right that is another conversation. Thousands of
people are in jail for pot and I think it should be legal, but I'm not going
to kill myself to try to get the law changed that's just stupid.

~~~
BrokenPipe
I'm not sure your rhetoric would stick much here on HN. I think this is
trolling but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

The laws he may have broken are not necessarily the ones he has been charged
with, this is partly why it has been called persecution overreach.

Breaking immoral laws is our moral obligation, there is no other way around
it.

Would you expect anything less if I were to enact a law that made your
children sexual slave ?

Would you expect anything less if someone were to take public funded research
and locked it up behind huge and crazy paywall without any competition ? Huge
costs for things that are in the public domain, from a copyright prospective,
but that JSTOR tried to keep that as a profit center.

They are the one stealing from the public and akin to companies like the
MAFIAA at that.

If you think healthcare should be socialized then go and tell your politician
and fight back with the groups that share your convictions.

In my mind he broke very little laws and this is a crazy overreaction from the
persecution.

Damn you may well be a troll with your trolling attitude and 11 minutes old
account (mine is only a few days old).

