Tag Archives: Intellectual Poverty

Kim Dotcom poised for return with Megaupload successor

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“Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom will launch a new file-sharing site at his Auckland mansion on Sunday, exactly a year after armed police arrested him at the same venue in the world’s largest online piracy case.  Dotcom’s new venture, mega.co.nz, aims to recreate the success of his Megaupload empire, which boasted 50 million daily visitors and accounted for four percent of all Internet traffic before it was shut down after the police raid.  Details of the planned service are scarce, but the site promises to use state-of-the-art encryption methods that mean only users, not the site’s administrators, know what they are uploading.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/18/kim-dotcom-poised-for-return-with-megaupload-successor/

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U.S. attorney defends handling of Aaron Swartz case as ‘appropriate’

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“A US prosecutor at the center of a controversy over the handling of a case involving an Internet activist who committed suicide has defended the government’s actions as ‘appropriate.’  Assistant US Attorney Carmen Ortiz expressed regret over the death of Aaron Swartz, who was accused of illegally copying and distributing millions of academic articles from a database but said prosecutors were merely doing their job.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/17/u-s-attorney-defends-handling-of-aaron-swartz-case-as-appropriate/

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Debate intensifies over ‘draconian’ cyber crime laws after Aaron Swartz’s death

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“As funeral services were held for Internet activist Aaron Swartz, the debate intensified over what some called a ‘draconian’ US computer crime law used by allegedly overzealous prosecutors.  An online petition calling for the removal of the prosecutors in his case garnered more than 31,000 signatures Tuesday and some of Swartz’s supporters blamed a 1986 computer crimes statute for his suicide.  Swartz, who was just 14 when he co-developed the RSS feeds that are now the norm for publishing frequent updates online and went on to help launch social news website Reddit, hanged himself in his New York apartment on Friday.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/16/debate-intensifies-over-draconian-cyber-crime-laws-after-aaron-swartzs-death/

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Glenn Greenwald: Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann: accountability for prosecutorial abuse

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“Prosecutors are vested with the extraordinary power to investigate, prosecute, bankrupt, and use the power of the state to imprison people for decades. The US has become a society in which political and financial elites systematically evade accountability for their bad acts, no matter how destructive. Those who torture, illegally eavesdrop, commit systemic financial fraud, even launder money for designated terrorists and drug dealers are all protected from criminal liability, while those who are powerless – or especially, as in Swartz’s case, those who challenge power – are mercilessly punished for trivial transgressions.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/ortiz-heymann-swartz-accountability-abuse

 

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US Attorney files dismissal of Swartz’s case, refuses to comment on his death

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“Despite Swartz’s family literally placing the blame for his death on the state, and both MIT and JSTOR releasing public statements that were largely positive in how they portrayed him, a spokesperson for Ortiz told the Los Angeles Times, ‘We want to respect the privacy of the family and do not feel it is appropriate to comment on the case at this time.’  After a year and a half of state harassment, the threat of over 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine hanging over Swartz’s head, after both JSTOR and MIT dropped their criminal charges, the government went after Swartz like a rabid dog – and got a kill.”

http://c4ss.org/content/16334

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US court drops charges on Aaron Swartz days after his suicide

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“A federal court in Massachusetts has dismissed the hacking case against Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide on January 11 while facing decades behind bars and a $1 million fine.  Though JSTOR decided not to press charges – and even urged the US government to drop the case – MIT went ahead with a civil suit. As a result, Swartz faced serious legal consequences, which observers believe led to his suicide last week.   According to a Huffington Post report, Swartz’s defense team suspected federal attorneys were using Swartz as an example to show how serious they could be with online crime cases.”

http://rt.com/usa/news/swartz-suicide-court-drops-charges-997/

 

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Activists and family blame suicide of Aaron Swartz on overzealous prosecution

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“Two years before the MIT incident, the FBI launched an investigation after Swartz released a trove of US federal court documents online that are usually only accessible at a fee through the government’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER.  In 2008, that fee was eight cents per page.  In less than three weeks, he managed to download more than 18 million pages with an estimated value of $1.5 million to his home in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.  Swartz had pleaded not guilty to charges of computer fraud, wire fraud and other crimes carrying a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/13/activists-and-family-blame-suicide-of-aaron-swartz-on-overzealous-prosecution/

 

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Hacker, Activist Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide

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http://freedomwat.ch/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/aaronswartz-v22.jpg

“Aaron Swartz was facing a potential sentence of dozens of years in prison for allegedly trying to make MIT academic journal articles public.  Swartz was dedicated to sharing data and information online. He worked tirelessly to develop and popularize standards for free and open information sharing.  Swartz co-founded Demand Progress, which launched the primary campaign against Internet censorship bills (SOPA/PIPA). His work on Reddit enabled millions to share information and news socially (Swartz sold Infogami to Reddit).”

http://www.zdnet.com/hacker-activist-aaron-swartz-commits-suicide-7000009725/

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H.R. 193 would force farmers to pay a fee on saved seeds and register them

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“H.R. 193 would change things for farmers who purchase patented seeds and then grow those seeds. After the harvest, many farmers save the seeds that they can, seeds produced from the product they already paid for. H.R. 193 would force those farmers who save their seeds to register those seeds with the Secretary of Agriculture. After they register those seeds, the farmers would then have to pay fees set aside by the Secretary of Agriculture for keeping the seeds, ‘and for other purposes’.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/h-r-193-would-force-farmers-to-pay-a-fee-on-saved-seeds-and-register-them

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Case Against Kim Dotcom Copyright Infringement Continues to Weaken

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“This is the man US and Hollywood officials decided to make an example of. Interestingly, they were victims of the same persona that Dotcom has used successfully throughout his career.  A man who so thoroughly advertised his affection for fast cars, large yachts, beautiful women and military video games was someone who surely could not be taken seriously.  It was inconceivable to these intelligence agents and military men that someone as obviously undisciplined as Kim Dotcom would pose a ‘hard target.’ Surely he would fold immediately on feeling the boot upon his neck. And this misjudgment was only one of a series.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/28542/Case-Against-Kim-Dotcom-Copyright-Infringement-Continues-to-Weaken

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