Got this email from the good group of people at Demand Progress:
Shocking news: Moments ago former Demand Progress Executive Director Aaron Swartz was indicted by the US government. As best as we can tell, he is being charged with allegedly downloading too many journal articles from the Web. The government contends that downloading so many journal articles constitutes felony computer hacking and should be punished with time in prison. We disagree.
Will you click here to sign our petition of support for Aaron?
The charges are made all the more senseless by the fact that the alleged victim has settled any claims against Aaron, explained they’ve suffered no loss or damage, and asked the government not to prosecute.
James Jacobs, the Government Documents Librarian at Stanford University — where Aaron did undergraduate work — denounced the arrest: “Aaron’s prosecution undermines academic inquiry and democratic principles,” Jacobs said. “It’s incredible that the government would try to lock someone up for allegedly looking up articles at a library.”
Will you click here to show your support for Aaron?
Thanks for your support and concern as we help see Aaron through these tough times. We’ll keep you updated.
— The Demand Progress team
This is just unreal and needs to be stopped here! Help Demand Progress and end this kind of crap for good!! Also if you can Demand Progress needs donations to fund their fight. Anything will help im sure, see their site for more details on that.