Aaron Swartz’s 2011–2013 JSTOR case

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Aaron Swartz’s 2011–2013 JSTOR case was a high-profile U.S. federal prosecution of programmer and activist Aaron Swartz for bulk-downloading academic articles, which became a flashpoint in debates over open access, computer crime law, and information freedom.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal case
computer crime case
criminal prosecution
legal controversy
accusation bulk downloading of academic journal articles
unauthorized access to JSTOR via MIT network
charge computer fraud
recklessly damaging a protected computer
unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer
violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
wire fraud
country United States of America
surface form: United States
defendant Aaron Swartz NERFINISHED
defendantDeath 2013-01-11
defendantPlea not guilty
endedWith dismissal of charges after defendant’s death
endTime 2013
hasMainSubject computer crime law
information freedom
open access movement NERFINISHED
indictmentDate 2011-07
inspired Aaron’s Law proposal NERFINISHED
involves JSTOR database NERFINISHED
MIT computer network
academic journal articles
jurisdiction District of Massachusetts NERFINISHED
United States government
surface form: United States federal government
location Cambridge, Massachusetts
maximumPotentialPenalty $1 million in fines
35 years imprisonment
notableFor being a flashpoint in debates over open access
being a high-profile prosecution of a programmer and activist
raising questions about proportionality of computer crime penalties
outcome charges dismissed
pleaOffer 6 months in prison in exchange for guilty plea
prosecutingAuthority U.S. Department of Justice NERFINISHED
United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts NERFINISHED
relatedTo Computer Fraud and Abuse Act NERFINISHED
JSTOR NERFINISHED
Massachusetts Institute of Technology NERFINISHED
startTime 2011
subjectOf documentaries about Aaron Swartz
extensive media coverage
supersedingIndictmentDate 2012-09
triggered calls to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
criticism of U.S. computer crime laws
criticism of prosecutorial discretion in computer crime cases
public debate on open access to scholarly articles

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Guerrilla Open Access linkedToEvent Aaron Swartz’s 2011–2013 JSTOR case