US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek

Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by gruez on Monday February 03, 2025 @07:35PM (#42925644)

Thanks for proving my point. Schwartz was offered 6 months in a minimum security prison, but he declined it because he specifically wanted a trial. Moreover that was for effectively DoSing JSTOR, a much more serious crime than some guy using a vpn to download an AI model. I don't think 6 months was justified, nor the string of crimes he was charged with, but OP's assertion that "You get less jail time for committing 34 felonies" is still false.

>During plea negotiations with Swartz's attorneys, the prosecutors offered to recommend a sentence of six months in a low-security prison if Swartz pled guilty to 13 federal crimes. Swartz and his lead attorney rejected the deal, opting instead for a trial where prosecutors would be forced to justify their pursuit of him.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by dylan604 on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:15PM (#42926071)

Last I checked, 6 months is still more time than 0 time. Not sure your point with this comparison

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by gruez on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:20PM (#42926146)

Last time I checked, entering an (unlocked) IT closet, using it to DoS a site and continuing to do so despite being IP banned a few times is slightly more serious than "some kid downloading a model".

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by dylan604 on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:37PM (#42926332)

Yes, but all the way back to the top of this specific thread was 34 felonies got 0 months. You're now comparing 6 months against a hypothetical where nothing has actually happened.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by SuperNinKenDo on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:04PM (#42925960)

I think the issue under discussion is whether or not this kind of law is applied gently and with consideration to seriousness, or whether it tends to be used as a club to make an example of people. I think Swartz is seen as an example of it being used as a club to make an example of people.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by gruez on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:15PM (#42926075)

>I think the issue under discussion is whether or not this kind of law is applied gently and with consideration to seriousness, or whether it tends to be used as a club to make an example of people.

I'm not sure how you got that impression from the original exchange of:

>>[...] You get less jail time for committing 34 felonies.

>up to 20 years. Realistically some kid downloading a model would get probation [...]

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by SuperNinKenDo on Monday February 03, 2025 @10:49PM (#42927641)

I didn't get that impression from the original exchange, I got it from the thread I am responding to involving Aaron Swartz being given as a counter-example to the last point, and inferring why somebody would use Aaron Swartz as a counter-example.

Seems I was right in that inference, given other responses to the thread since.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by trimethylpurine on Monday February 03, 2025 @09:22PM (#42926838)

I think it's not about examples. Every attorney graduating with a quarter million in student debt that gets a low pay government job is trying to punch a lot of notches in their belt so that they can be picked up by a major law firm with a pretty paycheck. They'd be stupid or magnanimous to look the other way on easy wins.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by dgfitz on Monday February 03, 2025 @07:38PM (#42925671)

Facts need not apply. We’re righteously indignant for goodness sake! Stop with all the nonsense “facts” and “reality” unless they fit the narrative.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by AlotOfReading on Monday February 03, 2025 @07:56PM (#42925867)

It's a shame Swartz was downloading JSTOR articles to share. He could have DoS'd half the internet and gotten away scot-free if he'd been training an ML system instead.

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Re:US Bill Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek by plagiarist on Monday February 03, 2025 @08:29PM (#42926236)

You just need articles of incorporation and all crimes become civil matters.

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