Aaron Swartz's embattled prosecuting attorney releases first statement, says conduct was 'appropriate' US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz is breaking the silence on her office’s prosecution of Aaron Swartz. After extending her sympathy to those affected by Swartz's death, Ortiz acknowledges that there was no evidence that the 25 year-old's efforts to mass-download public journal articles from the JSTOR repository was for personal financial gain. "At no point did this office ever seek... maximum penalties under the law." Ortiz adds that "at no time did this office ever seek - or ever tell Mr. At the time of his death, Swartz was facing a total of 13 felony charges, carrying a maximum penalty of over 30 years in jail and $1 million in fines. The full text of the statement can be found below: January 16, 2013STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CARMEN M.
The Aaron Swartz Hacking Case Has Been Dismissed By The US District Court The US District Court in Massachusetts has dismissed the case against Aaron Swartz. Swartz committed suicide on January 11 after an investigation into his involvement in the theft of digital documents from JSTOR, a journal archive. US Attorney for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz noted: In support of this dismissal, the government states that Mr. Information on his memorial service is available here. Marcia Hofmann at the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote that this case is an example of draconian informations security laws gone horribly wrong: Over the past two years, Aaron was forced to devote much of his energy and resources to fighting a relentless and unjust felony prosecution brought by Justice Department attorneys in Massachusetts. Please remember that there are sources of help if you’re troubled including Reddit, The Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and those close to you.
Two Days Before MIT and Cambridge Cops Arrested Aaron Swartz, Secret Service Took Over the Investigation The public story of Aaron Swartz’ now-tragic two year fight with the Federal government usually starts with his July 19, 2011 arrest. But that’s not when he was first arrested for accessing a closet at MIT in which he had a netbook downloading huge quantities of scholarly journals. He was first arrested on January 6, 2011 by MIT and Cambrige, MA cops. According to a suppression motion in his case, however two days before Aaron was arrested, the Secret Service took over the investigation. On the morning of January 4, 2011, at approximately 8:00 am, MIT personnel located the netbook being used for the downloads and decided to leave it in place and institute a packet capture of the network traffic to and from the netbook.4 Timeline at 6. According to the Secret Service, they get involved in investigations with: Significant economic or community impactParticipation of organized criminal groups involving multiple districts or transnational organizationsUse of schemes involving new technology
Wikileaks claims Aaron Swartz was an ally and possible source, breaking anonymity Aaron Swartz died a week ago. A public memorial service in New York City will be held later today. You may have read much about Swartz's life in the interim, including his work at a young age on Reddit and the RSS specification, his political activism, and the overzealous prosecution that may have contributed to his suicide. The @Wikileaks Twitter account is one of two online outlets designated for official communication from WikiLeaks; the other is its home page. Due to the investigation into the Secret Service involvement with #AaronSwartz we have decided to disclose the following facts (1-3) — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 19, 2013 1. 2. 3. A caution: we can't say what this really means when it comes to Aaron Swartz. However, these tweets add up to an extraordinary statement from WikiLeaks itself. Here's an excerpt from WikiLeaks' policy on anonymity for sources (bolding ours): As far as we can ascertain, WikiLeaks has never revealed any of its sources.
MIT announces internal investigation into its role in Aaron Swartz's prosecution On Sunday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a statement on the untimely death of digital activist and pioneer Aaron Swartz, offering condolences to his friends and family and announcing an investigation into the university's role in his prosecution. "I will not attempt to summarize here the complex events of the past two years," writes MIT president L. Rafael Reif. "Now is a time for everyone involved to reflect on their actions, and that includes all of us at MIT." The investigation, led by Creative Commons and Free Software Foundation founding director Hal Abelson, a professor at the university, will be focused "a thorough analysis of MIT's involvement from the time that we first perceived unusual activity on our network in fall 2010 up to the present." Reif, who became president after Swartz's 2011 indictment, has "asked that this analysis describe the options MIT had and the decisions MIT made, in order to understand and to learn from the actions MIT took."
MIT president orders review of hacking case against Aaron Swartz, programmer and activist who committed suicide The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced Sunday that he has ordered a top-to-bottom review of the university's actions in a computer hacking case that led to the federal prosecution of renowned programmer and web activist Aaron Swartz, who killed himself last week as he awaited a federal trial on 13 felony counts. "Now is a time for everyone involved to reflect on their actions, and that includes all of us at MIT," MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in an email sent to the university community Sunday afternoon and relayed to POLITICO by an MIT spokesperson. Reif said he had asked a computer science and electrical engineering professor at the Cambridge, Mass. school, Hal Abelson, "to lead a thorough analysis of MIT's involvement from the time that we first perceived unusual activity on our network in fall 2010 up to the present." In a statement Saturday, Swartz's family and partner asserted that "decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. L.
President Reif writes to MIT community regarding Aaron Swartz At 4:15 p.m. today, MIT President L. Rafael Reif emailed the following message to the MIT community. To the members of the MIT community: Yesterday we received the shocking and terrible news that on Friday in New York, Aaron Swartz, a gifted young man well known and admired by many in the MIT community, took his own life. Although Aaron had no formal affiliation with MIT, I am writing to you now because he was beloved by many members of our community and because MIT played a role in the legal struggles that began for him in 2011. I want to express very clearly that I and all of us at MIT are extremely saddened by the death of this promising young man who touched the lives of so many. I will not attempt to summarize here the complex events of the past two years. I hope we will all reach out to those members of our community we know who may have been affected by Aaron’s death. With sorrow and deep sympathy, L.
MIT consults staff and students over Aaron Swartz probe 24 January 2013Last updated at 15:25 GMT Aaron Swartz faced a possible 35-year jail term The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has begun soliciting input from the university's "community" into its review into the suicide of internet activist Aaron Swartz. The site allows staff, students past and present and their parents to submit questions to MIT's investigation team. Mr Swartz, 26, was found hanged earlier this month. He was accused of illegally downloading academic documents using MIT networks, a charge many had said was unfair. Suggestions on the site include: "What support, if any, does MIT offer for students undergoing federal investigations or criminal charges? MIT has said its review will be complete in "a few weeks". It will be a chance to rebuild its reputation following heavy criticism over its role in Mr Swartz's arrest and subsequent treatment. MIT told officers more than 70GB of data had been downloaded from JStor, a subscription service that offers academic journals.
MIT Pledges Probe Of Involvement In Aaron Swartz Case, Establishes Website To Field Questions The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is conducting a review of its involvement in the case of Aaron Swartz, the internet pioneer who committed suicide earlier this month. Swartz killed himself two years to the day after he was arrested on felony counts relating to retrieving more than 4 million academic journal articles from the JSTOR database through MIT's network without authorization, CNET reports. Swartz's father told The Huffington Post that MIT officials declined to support a plea deal which could've allowed his son to avoid prison because they said the university held "differing opinions" over Swartz's alleged actions. Hal Abelson, Ph.D, a professor of computer science and founding director of Creative Commons, has been tasked by MIT president L. Rafael Reif to lead the investigation, going back to fall 2010 when the library system learned that large numbers of articles were being downloaded from JSTOR. Related on HuffPost:
Attorney General: Aaron Swartz Case Was a 'Good Use of Prosecutorial Discretion' | Threat Level Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday said the suicide death of internet activist Aaron Swartz was a “tragedy,” but the hacking case against the 26-year-old was “a good use of prosecutorial discretion.” Holder, the nation’s top prosecutor, is the highest-ranking member of the President Barack Obama administration to defend the indictment and prosecution of the former director of Demand Progress, who committed suicide in January as his April trial approached. Holder’s comments come seven weeks after Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, whose office was prosecuting Swartz, said the authorities’ actions were “appropriate in bringing and handling this case.” The attorney general was testifying at a Justice Department oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee and was facing terse questioning from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Cornyn said the prosecution was based on “prosecutorial zeal” and “I would say even misconduct.” Holder replied: Let me first say that Mr.