Harsh Prosecution Means Criminal Justice System Must Be Reevaluated

Internet activist Aaron Swartz’s abrupt suicide raises serious questions about the over-severity of the prosecution and the state of the criminal justice system. Breaking into a private scholarly database is against the law, but the federal government should have granted Swartz a fair punishment proportional to his crime.

Swartz’s cyber crime, which faced no charges from the actual scholarly database that was involved, JSTOR, and its repercussions illustrate that we must critically evaluate the fairness of the criminal justice system. Swartz faced 13 felony charges, up to $4 million in fines and a possible lifetime in prison, which is a sentence comparable to charges placed on crimes such as abduction and sexual assault. Swartz’s crime was not on the same par. Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal even stated that the sentence was like trying to put someone in jail for checking out too many library books.

The number of Internet crimes committed is skyrocketing with the availability of free file-sharing software. Phishing crimes alone have cost Americans around $3 billion per year. Punishing individuals severely for less-pressing cyber crimes diverts the attention away from those Internet operations that aim to scam. In fact, the real “scam kings” of the Internet have found ways to escape the law by operating from foreign countries.

Swartz’s shocking suicide has opened up the floor for critical thought on the fairness of criminal punishments, and whether the current crackdown on cyber crime is truly effective.

— Revathy Sampath-Kumar
Senior Staff Writer

Swartz Undeniably Broke Law and Government Was Only Doing its Duty

Lately, all the media seems to do is sensationalize the lives of young prodigies; we might be expecting a movie to be made for 26-year-old Aaron Swartz soon. Swartz spent most of his life at the forefront of Internet freedom campaigns, ultimately leading to a trial accusing him of 13 charges of fraud and hacking. Although his actions did not have malicious intent, Swartz’s crimes could not be ignored. Contrary to what the media has portrayed, the government was only trying to uphold the law and should not be blamed for Swartz’s death.

While the public should have access to scholarly information, illegally downloading academic journals violates an author’s intellectual property rights. Swartz illegally hacked into the MIT server and downloaded academic journals and articles valued at $5,000 from JSTOR, intending to upload the information to the web for public use. Larger research universities can pay up to $50,000 annually in dues to JSTOR for access to this information, which includes copyright fees and dues to the authors.

As stated by the Copyright Clause, the U.S. constitution allows authors and inventors “exclusive rights” to their findings and work, essentially giving them the power to make their newfound knowledge public or private. Like downloading music illegally or streaming movies, Swartz was attempting to take away profits from authors and researchers. Though this incident had a tragic ending for Swartz, it reminds the nation that the government will continue to uphold the law.

— Sharon Lay
Staff Writer

Underlying Mental Issues, and Not the Government are to Blame for Death

Aaron Swartz was not a shady online programmer looking to exploit and destroy, but, as the Washington Post explains, a “Hacktivist Hero.” His sudden suicide has left the masses pointing fingers while reaching for an explanation. Yet, the underlying cause seems to stem from within. Although his parents have accused the harsh legal process, many of his friends have emphasized his battle with depression as a leading cause.

Swartz’s aggressive legal prosecution added to his depression, but did not instigate it. Depression is a widespread problem: According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an estimated 19 million Americans currently suffer from depression. Over 15 percent of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide, since the ailment which often causes the patient to blame himself. Swartz expressed these feelings as early as 2007, when he wrote in a blog post that “Surely there have been times when you’ve been sad…You feel worthless.” The genius mind has consistently laid mercy to that of psychosis, in one form or another, and a recent study in TIME Magazine of eight child prodigies found a direct link to some form of mental disease. Swartz’s work appeared to mask his ongoing battle with depression.

Swartz’s true passion, the pursuit of free information, appeared to help him push past his underlying problems. However his efforts — at the likes of Reddit and Wikipedia — birthed a new age that, in the future, may appoint him the savior of free information.

— Matthew Rosin
Staff Writer