News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014).

Re:The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by MeinBlutIstBlau on Monday January 11, 2021 @06:36PM (#25739771)
Just because you're a prodigy doesn't make you exempt from the rules that exist. On the scale of injustices, what he did is hardly an offense worthwhile by illegitimate means. He should've just gone about it the way the system is devised. Nobody likes it. But being noble doesn't get you anywhere nowadays.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by pm90 on Monday January 11, 2021 @06:45PM (#25739916)
Being noble is only possible when you have power. When you know the right people, breaking the law like he did can be shrugged of as an ideological protest.

His prosecution shows just how flawed the Criminal Justice system is in the US. Harsh laws, selectively applied and the weakest get the harshest sentences.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by kichimi on Monday January 11, 2021 @06:48PM (#25739944)
What he did was barely a criminal offense, breaking terms of service should not warrant jail time. If it does then we are ALL guilty of the same "crimes" as Swartz, including you.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by breck on Monday January 11, 2021 @06:44PM (#25739895)
> But being noble doesn't get you anywhere nowadays.

It never did. You do it for the people that come after you.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) by MeinBlutIstBlau on Monday January 11, 2021 @08:22PM (#25741037)
Doing anything for the "greater good" doesn't get you anything besides being a folk hero. There are very few if any folk heroes that ever "triumphed" over the state.
[ Parent | on HN ]