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Reddit Co-Founder Hacked MIT Archives: US

24-year-old faces 35 years in jail, $1M fine

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 19, 2011 2:18 PM CDT

(Newser) – A co-founder of Reddit is charged with hacking into Massachusetts Institute of Technology archives and stealing some 4 million scientific and academic articles. Aaron Swartz, 24, could face 35 years in prison and a million-dollar fine on federal fraud and other charges, the Boston Globe reports. Swartz, who worked at Harvard’s Center for Ethics, knew authorities were investigating him; he turned himself in today.

Swartz is a prominent backer of the free flow of information online and in libraries. A rep for a nonprofit group Swartz founded said the case against him is “like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.” And “it’s even more strange because the alleged victim”—MIT—“has settled any claims against Aaron, explained they’ve suffered no loss or damage, and asked the government not to prosecute.” But “stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar,” said a US attorney.

The campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
klbb
Jul 19, 2011 10:24 PM CDT
Everyone: Let's nip this stupidity in the bud and stop calling him a Reddit co-founder. Sources: https://twitter.com/#!/kn0thing/status/93374221685755904 and https://twitter.com/#!/kn0thing/status/93436338245877761
Mad
Jul 19, 2011 5:26 PM CDT
Just blows me away that the DOJ goes after shit like this, yet GWB and Cheney breathe free.
LoginsSuck
Jul 19, 2011 3:23 PM CDT
So MIT just tell them they were digitaly "checked out" of the online library for research. It's science type stuff, they won't check into stuff they don't believe in.

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