The Overzealous Prosecution of Aaron Swartz
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Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The tragic suicide last week ofAaron Swartz, the visionary Internet activist who helped createReddit, is being blamed in part on the zeal of the U.S. attorneywhose office was prosecuting him for supposed computer crimes.
Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School describedhis close friend Swartz as having been “driven to the edge bywhat a decent society would only call bullying.” Others pointedout that Swartz’s alleged offense -- downloading scholarlypapers without paying for them -- was essentially victimless.The owner of the database from which the papers were taken chosenot to pursue the matter.