United States Sentencing Commission responsible for issuing sentencing guidelines for US federal courts.
In response to the death of Aaron Swartz, activist group Anonymous have hacked a U.S. government website. The group embedded a video statement on the homepage of the United States Sentencing Commission, which is an agency of the U.S. government. However, the website itself has been unavailable since Saturday. The USSC is responsible for issuing guidelines on sentencing for U.S. federal courts.
The statement -- part of an attack dubbed "Operation Last Resort" -- is based on the death of Aaron Swartz, an internet activist (pictured right) who killed himself earlier in January.
"Two weeks ago today, a line was crossed," the statement reads. "Two weeks ago today, Aaron Swartz was killed. Killed because he faced an impossible choice. Killed because he was forced into playing a game he could not win."
Swartz, who was 26, had faced hacking charges; his federal trial was due to be held in February. If he was found guilty of the allegations, he faced up to 35 years in prison.
"The federal sentencing guidelines... enable prosecutors to cheat citizens of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to a fair trial, by a jury of their peers [and] are a clear violation of the 8th amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishments," Anonymous continued.
Following his death, Swartz's family said a statement that it blamed "intimidation" and "prosecutorial overreach" from the criminal justice system.
Threaten the president = 5 years prison max
Assault a Supreme Court Justice = 10 years prison max
Armed bank robbery = 20 prison years max
Help terrorist develop a nuclear weapon = 25 prison years max
Download educational documents violating vendors TOS = 35+ years prison
1) This man downloaded files from a PUBLIC website. The rule he broke was, on the TOA (Terms of Agreement) he was limited to downloading a certain amount. This being a public website, there was absolutely no files that contained any top-secret agenda.
2) He was charged with multiple counts of FELONY for breaking the TOA. Now, think about this for a second. Do any of you even read the TOA when you register to a website, game, or any software for that matter? I'll let that sink in for a minute.
3) The reason this case caused such an uproar was because the prosecutor had their own agenda and used this man for political issues. The politician working in this case wanted to seem like she had a strong stance against issues regarding hacking and other online policies to GATHER votes. So basically this man was used as a political asset so some retarded politician can get more votes in to stay in office.
Now, think about how this court case would have/could have affected you. If Aaron Swartz pleaded guilty to receive a reduced sentence, then there could be a chance that breaking a simple online Terms of Agreement can lead to felony charges against YOU. TERMS OF AGREEMENT. Remember? The 25 page thing that you don't even take a second glance at and just press the "accept" button so you can enjoy the contents of the actual product.
So please stop saying ignorant things like "derp derp don't break the law" because technically he didn't break the law. He broke a terms of agreement on a public website and was used as a political asset to garner votes from the public.
WTF is wrong with you? The magnitude of punishment did not balance according to what he did! A kid dies because people are computer-phobic. He would have gotten a lighter sentence if he killed somebody.
I stole a piece of candy when I was 6. Do I deserve 35 years in prision? Stop stealing shit and you'll be fine, you say...
Well stop hacking peoples stuff.
Its always sad to see someone take their own life, but this kid dug his own grave. Stop doing illegal shit and you'll be fine.
WTF is wrong with you? The magnitude of punishment did not balance according to what he did! A kid dies because people are computer-phobic. He would have gotten a lighter sentence if he killed somebody.
I stole a piece of candy when I was 6. Do I deserve 35 years in prision? Stop stealing shit and you'll be fine, you say...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoPgFA5AkUY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a91WYyhnCP0
You know the risks.
I don't understand why someone, who is aware of the jailtime associated with such actions - still do it anyways then complains after they were caught that its "Ridiculous". They crank the jailtime to scare you away from doing it. This idiot decided to do it anyways, regardless of the risk and was caught.
We ALL assume we'll be that % that won't be caught, well, he was.
Thats that.
must be nice seeing everything in Black and White
Threaten the president = 5 years prison max
Assault a Supreme Court Justice = 10 years prison max
Armed bank robbery = 20 prison years max
Help terrorist develop a nuclear weapon = 25 prison years max
Download educational documents violating vendors TOS = 35+ years prison
But either way this video was cool lol.
At the same time, I am in no way going to defend what Mr. Swartz did, nor the response given to his choice to end his life. 35 years is not an easy sentence, but there are thousands sitting in a jail cell for doing far less, and who get far less attention for it. 35 years is not the result of a single charge, it's the result of multiple charges compounded. He was facing multiple counts, and had not even had his trial yet. He may have not been found guilty on some of them, and then wouldn't have even faced the maximum. He was in plea negotiations, in which I believe the Massachusetts D.A was offering him a deal that would have netted him only 6 months in jail. MIT, the plaintiff in the case, was against the deal, which is their right as the victim of the alleged crime, so even if someone is angry about what happened to Mr. Swartz it should be anger at MIT for blocking the plea deal, not at the commission behind sentencing guidelines.
Each count only totaled a few months to a few years. When you're accused of dozens of counts of the same crime, eventually they stack up to a lot of time. He hacked MIT's computers, accessed and downloaded millions of files. He should have known at the time he was doing it what he would be facing if he got caught. He is not the first person to face charges on illegally hacking a computer. He could have easily found out what would happen, and everyone knows that hacking is a crime. You don't get to cry foul after-the-fact. It is a tragedy for Mr. Swartz's family that he took his own life. Even if convicted for the crime (which I have not heard any assertions he did not commit) he would have been out probably before he turned fifty due to good behavior if he kept out of trouble behind bars. He wouldn't have served in a maximum security facility, so he wouldn't have been with the murderers and gang-bangers that most think of when they think of prison. He could have done his time, got out, and gone on with his life after that. His fate is a tragedy. The response to that tragedy by the likes of Anonymous is nothing but cowardly, opportunistic, showboating, in an attempt to get people to pay attention to them by way of exploiting this young man's death. It is disgusting, and I hope they rot in prison for it.
Correction: Robin Hood did not steal from the rich to give to the poor. Robin Hood took back what the government stole from the people and returned it to the rightful owners.
If he really wanted to change things, he should have gone to trial. The outcome would've been in his favor and it would've been a major victory against unfair copyright laws. But, he cracked and killed himself. By the way I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to put this whole thing into perspective for a lot of people who are blaming "the system".
Is 35 years excessive for thing? Probably. He did STEAL and HACK MIT, and stole documents from a non-profit publishing journal. I don't even see a point in that. If you're going to hack, do it for something worthwhile, not some non-profit that charges 5 cents a page for hard research work done by people dedicated to their fields and the 5 cents covers the cost of publishing. Real big, worthy target to hack.
Everyone looks at like black and white., it was just documents. So what if someone robbed your mother at gunpoint and stole her password, and she was traumatized for life over it, and even had a heart attack. You would screaming for 35 years for the guy. But it was just a document he took right?
1) This man downloaded files from a PUBLIC website. The rule he broke was, on the TOA (Terms of Agreement) he was limited to downloading a certain amount. This being a public website, there was absolutely no files that contained any top-secret agenda.
2) He was charged with multiple counts of FELONY for breaking the TOA. Now, think about this for a second. Do any of you even read the TOA when you register to a website, game, or any software for that matter? I'll let that sink in for a minute.
3) The reason this case caused such an uproar was because the prosecutor had their own agenda and used this man for political issues. The politician working in this case wanted to seem like she had a strong stance against issues regarding hacking and other online policies to GATHER votes. So basically this man was used as a political asset so some retarded politician can get more votes in to stay in office.
Now, think about how this court case would have/could have affected you. If Aaron Swartz pleaded guilty to receive a reduced sentence, then there could be a chance that breaking a simple online Terms of Agreement can lead to felony charges against YOU. TERMS OF AGREEMENT. Remember? The 25 page thing that you don't even take a second glance at and just press the "accept" button so you can enjoy the contents of the actual product.
So please stop saying ignorant things like "derp derp don't break the law" because technically he didn't break the law. He broke a terms of agreement on a public website and was used as a political asset to garner votes from the public.
We live in a world where a CEO can bone employees, close the doors of the company, steal millions in pension and benefits from said employees, and get off with 5 years in Club Fed then keep the money while a kid who downloads music or videos gets millions in fines.
Scammers and identity thieves walk all the time unless they target a known athlete, CEO or high ranking government official.
Guess its ok to steal if you steal from those the government steals from all the time just so long as you're not stealing from the people lining the pockets of the government.
But seriously, 35 years for breaking a TOA? That shit should have been thrown out the window the second it happened. If anything there should have been a fine, but REALLY?
CIA CIA CIA CIA CIA CIA.