Here's What I Think I Know About Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz had to die to become an internet hero. In fact, Aaron Swartz had to kill himself to become an internet  hero. Aaron Swartz may have had a history of depression, but no one has given any evidence of that, and maybe the opposite. Aaron Swartz hacked into MIT's computer storage to download articles that had previously been available for free with no intention to make any money from them. MIT decided to make an example of him, and hard-nosed prosecutors decided that an offer of four to six months in federal prison was a good alternative to the 35 years they could have asked for.

[Boston Globe columnist Joan] Vennochi seems convinced that this was purely an act of civil disobedience and that civil disobedience must needs include jail time — but once we get to the condescension, the piece goes completely off the rails.

An emotion-soaked perspective is understandable from those closest to Swartz. But the widespread revulsion directed at the U.S. Attorney's office is overreach by cyberbullies. Defense lawyers would love to see federal prosecutors back down from other criminal cases.

Lord above, what a crock. I wouldn't have known Aaron Swartz if he'd sat in my lap. I had to have one of my children explain to me what Reddit was the other night. (Yes, I am an idiot. Please proceed.) But I've been around enough courthouses to recognize political ambition in a federal prosecutor when I see it. I've been around enough courthouses to recognize where the real power to bully someone comes from, and it doesn't come from law professors saying mean things about people on the Intertoobz. It comes from the FBI, and a couple dozen federal law-enforcement agencies, and the power to throw people — even for a "mere" six months — into the federal pokey. Every federal prosecution doesn't have to be balls-to-the-wall. You don't have to have known Aaron Swartz to conclude with good reason that the U.S. Attorney had an agenda here beyond simply keeping secure some JSTOR files, or maintaining the integrity of the broom closets at MIT. This is especially true when you examine the bill of particulars put together about [US Attorney] Ortiz and her office by media critic Dan Kennedy on his blog the other day. Ortiz, whom Vennochi seems hellbent on protecting from the slings and arrows of cybermeanies, knows the political value of being "tough on crime."

  Charlie Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.