PCCC Co-Founder Aaron Swartz Indicted for Wire and Computer Fraud

[jaxx]

Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) Co-Founder Aaron Swartz Indicted for Wire and Computer Fraud***

As if being run by grifter Adam Green (to whom you should totally send three dollars, by the way) isn’t enough to stain PCCC and Bold Progressives’s reputation, PCCC’s co-founder Aaron Swartz was indicted for mail fraud today.

From AP,

<..> Aaron Swartz, 24, of Cambridge, was accused of stealing the documents from JSTOR, a popular research subscription service that offers digitized copies of more than 1,000 academic journals and documents, some dating back to the 17th century.

<..> In an indictment released Tuesday, prosecutors say Swartz stole 4.8 million articles between September 2010 and January after breaking into a computer wiring closet on MIT’s campus. Swartz, a student at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, downloaded so many documents during one October day that some of JSTOR’s computer servers crashed, according to the indictment.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/07/19/progressive-change-campaign-committee-pccc-co-founder-aaron-swartz-indicted-for-mail-fraud/

Correction from AP: The indictment accuses him of breaking into the closet in November 2010, not September 2010.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ACADEMIC_PAPERS_HACKED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-07-19-14-09-49

Jeez that really looks bad for an up and coming progressive group who wants people to sign their pledge against PBO.

[Scurrilous]

1. Heh.

:thumbsup:

[sabrina 1]

2. A 24 year old who did something on his time

what does this have to do with the organization?

And btw, it's interesting to see a democrat's treatment compared to say, James O'Keefe who was caught wire-tapping a US Senator's phones.

Someone doesn't like progressives very much, but then that's not a surprise.

I'll take this seriously, when the DOJ goes after Karl Rove and James O'Keefe.

[malaise]

5. +1,000 n/t

[CleanGreenFuture]

3. It's a shame that the Left is so fractured...and that some are more

than willing to drive the wedge just a little deeper.

[jaxx]

4. We want people on the up and up to represent us.

This is a black eye to the PCCC. Progressives should be ticked.

[CleanGreenFuture]

6. It looks like you're intent is to give Progressives a black eye, not to be a concerned friend.

I just think it's sad that this fracture has led us to where we are today. Had the factions of the Left worked together in 2010, we might not now have the teabaggers dictating policy - or a lack thereof - and threatening a global economic catastrophe.

[jaxx]

8. I worked together with those who chose to be a part of it all.

Never once said I was staying home, or not going to help Democrats because I was pissed at Obama. Nope, point that finger some place else. Disenchanted I'm not.

Now back to Swartz. He was indicted for doing wrong. Does that bother you or does he get a pass?

[CleanGreenFuture]

10. No, no pass for Swartz. INOKIYAAD.

[sabrina 1]

9. What does this have to do with the organization?

Someone who happens to have a connection to an organization did something wrong. I don't see the connection. Has the Organization condoned what he did, were they involved?

Are the Dems responsible for every member of the party who ended up in jail for doing stuff the party didn't approve of anyhow? If that's the case, we wouldn't want to be associated with them either.

I do see a comparison though, between what he has been indicted for and what O'Keefe and his pals got away with.

At least the Right are not so willing to try to destroy their organizations, which is maybe why they are so much more successful.

Kos' partner and co-author of his book, the guy who actually set up DK, was convicted of online fraud a few years ago. Now he's running a blog and works hard for the Dem. Party. Should we condemn the Party or DK because of that?

[jaxx]

11. As the co-founder he is immediately linked to PCCC.

Did he pay his dues...the Kos guy? I'm all for rehabilitation.

O'Keefe is shit. I wouldn't compare anyone to him unless it was Breitbart.

[sabrina 1]

13. If what he did is directly linked to the organization itself,

then it's relevant. If it's something he did on his time without the knowledge of the organization or approval, and so far he has not been convicted of anything, then it is not relevant, he gets fired and the organization moves on without him, as DK did when the scandal broke about its co-founder, or 'godfather' as he was always referred to over there.

Iow, when the KOS co-founder, in fact he was the actual founder airc, was indicted and then convicted, Daily Kos was not held responsible for his actions, nor should they have been.

[jaxx]

14. It's not the way it works when a story breaks.

The perps are linked to whatever organizations they are a part of every time. It would be like Rupert not being linked to his newspaper scandal.

[sabrina 1]

15. It didn't happen with Daily Kos when their co-founder was

indicted nor when he was later convicted. Even though the far right tried to do so, wanting to help take down a liberal blog at the time. I'm no fan of DK, but what one person does, is not in any way related to the other INNOCENT people who happen to work with that person.

Someone wants to take down liberal organizations and I would not be helping to that if I were you. Spreading it around as if it was the 'organization' and not the individual is a classic smear campaign.

Do police reports always publish where people who are are arrested every day, work in their Police Blotters, unless what they did was actually related to their work?

[EFerrari]

16. You're wasting your breath. Swartz has multiple areas of activism

and apparently Open Access is one of them. This has zero to do with PCCC which, I just found out, has raised $30,000 for Elizabeth Warren's Senate run.

http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/survey_warrentdraft_nl/?source=tpm

I'll get excited when I hear he has multiple black sites where he hides prisoners from the Red Cross or when he bombs civilians or when he starts illegal wars or when he offers up Social Security as a political bargaining chip. Until then, I'll wait to hear his side of this story.

[jaxx]

18. Giving him a pass?

Interesting.

[EFerrari]

19. English is your second language?

I said I'll wait to hear his side of this story and not take the word of people who want to use him as some kind of asinine smear on PCCC.

[jaxx]

23. You did say part of that.

And whatever language is my 2nd is really none of your business.

[DevonRex]

7. ...

:rofl:

Why am I not surprised?

[EFerrari]

12. This had nothing to do with PCCC and everything to do with Open Access.

And, they have more than 200,000 signatures so far. :)

[jaxx]

17. Hmmm wonder why they're saying PCCC and Reddit?

Signatures for what?

[EFerrari]

20. Signatures for their petition to withhold support if Obama offers up

Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.

ETA Link

http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/survey_obamamedicaress/?source=tw

[jaxx]

21. LOL I shoulda known.

[EFerrari]

22. Yes, you shudda. They got The Nation award last year

for most effective on line activism.

[jaxx]

24. OMG like I'd keep up with people who are anti-Obama.

I tend to think they're not on the up and up. Like yelling so loud makes me wonder who they are.

[EFerrari]

25. These people are not anti-Oama, they're anti- bad public policy.

And there's no reason for you to wonder who they are if you have The Google.

[jaxx]

26. That is debatable.

[EFerrari]

27. No, not really. None of their efforts have been underhanded or personal

they have spoken up directly about policy or in support of good progressives like Keith Olbermann and Elizabeth Warren.

[jaxx]

28. Why would they put up a petition to not vote for PBO?

[sabrina 1]

31. Why would a Democratic President sell out Social Security and

Medicare? The petition is about IF he does this.

And frankly if he does, it won't be just this organization sending out petitions. Get ready to try to smear thousands of them.

But if he doesn't then there's nothing to worry about, is there?

[sabrina 1]

30. They are pro-Social Security and Medicare. Why would a progressive

be opposed to that?

[sabrina 1]

29. You still haven't answered the question. What does someone's

personal life have to do with an organization they work for?

Was the Org. indicted, involved, aware of, did it approve of, or is it in any way, other than the smear campaigners attempt to connect it, involved in the actions he is indicted for?

Iow, when reporting this story, since from what I can see so far, nothing he did was related to the Org, why was the Org implicated? There must be some connection to the crime or you would not name the Org as if there were, would you?

[snot]

32. People, I think many of you may be missing the real story here:

Per Talking Points Memo (http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/reddit-co-creator-turned-progressive-activist-aaron-swartz-charged-in-mit-theft.php?ref=fpblg ),

Demand Progress' Executive Director David Segal professed puzzlement at the Tuesday development. "This makes no sense," he said on the group's blog "it's like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library."

"It's even more strange because JSTOR has settled any claims against Aaron, explained they've suffered no loss or damage, and asked the government not to prosecute,' he added.

But this could be a political statement from Swartz, since he's been a long-time activist on copyright issues. As the indictment notes, Swartz is a fellow at Harvard's Center for Ethics, where his mentor Larry Lessig is the director.

The indictment notes that Swartz could have accessed the research there, but chose instead to break into MIT's network.

(Emphasis supplied.)The implication seems to be that Swartz may have acted in deliberate provocation – possibly to bring to a head the issue of whether information should, per the "Hacker Ethic," be free. (Re- the "Hacker Ethic," see, e.g., http://c-cyte.blogspot.com/2011/07/hacker-ethic.html .)

More at TPM and the Demand Progress blog (http://blog.demandprogress.org/2011/07/federal-government-indicts-former-demand-progress-executive-director-for-downloading-too-many-journal-articles/ ).

Swartz's act may in fact have been intended as the next salvo in the infowars.

[deacon]

33. He can always use the 'i'm just a file clerk' defense as the murkocks do. n/t

[mmonk]

34. Lesson. Do not challenge the corporatists and how things are spun.