Essay/Commentary: Aaron Swartz Driven to take Life
Computer genius Aaon Swartz (founder of Reddit and RSS) took his own life after being threatened with decades in prison for a victimless crime, that of illicitly making M.I.T. computer journals available to those who didn't pay for them. It is ironic but not surprising that a District Attorney went after a minor computer criminal while at the same time ignoring the major crimes of Wall Street criminals who nearly destroyed our economy and our way of life. I understand that Swartz was offered a sentence of less that a year, but his lawyer rejected the offer. Those at the top should not be exempt from the same harsh law that took a promising mind from this world with no justification except perhaps to make an overzealous prosecutor to look tough on crime, while ignoring the real crime from the financial world of Wall Street.
Correction: According to the attorney who prosecuted and/or persecuted Swartz, the unfortunate man was not subject to decades in prison, but the mere threat of jail for a victimless crime pushed him over the edge.
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