In A Move That We Doubt Aaron Swartz Would Approve Reddit Moderator Bans Edward Snowden

Reddit Bans Edward Snowden, Flames Glenn Greenwald In ‘Citizenfour’ Documentary AMA

 

 

 

” Edward Snowden says the only thing he regrets about his revelations regarding NSA surveillance is that he didn’t do it sooner. The former NSA analyst took part in a question-and-answer session on Reddit along with filmmaker Laura Poitras and and journalist Glenn Greenwald Monday.

  The trio appeared on the site to celebrate the Academy Award that “Citizenfour,” a documentary that depicts some of the earliest interviews between journalists and Snowden, received. The NSA leaker was temporarily banned from the popular submission site during the community Q&A, also known as an “ask me anything” or AMA.

” Hey guys, sorry — the reddit mods are being a little weird. My account is /u/SuddenlySnowden,” Snowden said. “Mods: Can you pull back the ban? I can’t post from the primary account. Thanks.”

  Snowden’s account was restored nine minutes later, but not before a Reddit moderator confronted him for complaining about the ban. The Reddit volunteer then got into a spat with Greenwald, later inferring the journalist was intellectually disabled.”

We doubt Aaron would approve , but then a lot of the Reddit moderators are as*holes . Read more

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Aaron Swartz – SOPA And The Day We Fight Back

FEBRUARY 11TH 2014 IS

The Day We Fight Back

AGAINST MASS SURVEILLANCE

 

 

 

Published on Jan 10, 2014

” For more information on the upcoming action – The Day We Fight Back – click here: https://thedaywefightback.org/?r=dp

  These are clips and excerpts from interviews featured in the upcoming documentary about Aaron Swartz called “The Internet’s Own Boy.” Sadly, Aaron took his own life on January 11th, 2013 after a two year legal battle. These clips show some of his work on SOPA, and his thoughts on the NSA.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Remembering Aaron

Electronic Frontier Foundation Offers A Tribute To Aaron Swartz On The Anniversary Of His Tragic Death

 

 

” One year ago, we lost Aaron Swartz, a dear friend and a leader in the fight for a free and open Internet. The shock was, and remains, a profound one. It’s a testament to the power of his commitments and ideals that both in life and in death he has inspired millions around the world, including all of us at EFF, to redouble our own efforts to advance the causes that he believed in, and to untangle the twisted and brutal computer crime laws that were used to persecute him.”

 

 

 

 

” Aaron was a passionate activist, but he also stood out as a technologist whose ambitions were always aligned towards a better, more just future. His pioneering work demonstrated a passion for harnessing technology to advance the public interest. As the Internet community confronted massive new challenges to free speech and privacy in 2013, there were many moments when we wondered quietly about what Aaron would have said and done.”

 

 

More about Aaron and efforts to fight State control can be found here and at the links below .

 

Take Action

TheDayWeFightBack.org

Reddit

AARON SWARTZ GETS “STREET ART” TRIBUTE AT HIS FINAL WORKPLACE

Remember Aaron Swartz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—

February 11th , The Day We Fight Back For Internet Freedom

DEAR USERS OF THE INTERNET

 

 

 

 

” In January 2012 we defeated the SOPA and PIPA censorship legislation with the largest Internet protest in history. A year ago this month one of that movement’s leaders, Aaron Swartz, tragically passed away.

  Today we face a different threat, one that undermines the Internet, and the notion that any of us live in a genuinely free society: mass surveillance.”

 

 

 

 

” If Aaron were alive, he’d be on the front lines, fighting against a world in which governments observe, collect, and analyze our every digital action.

  Now, on the eve of the anniversary of Aaron’s passing, and in celebration of the win against SOPA and PIPA that he helped make possible, we are announcing a day of protest against mass surveillance, to take place this February 11th.”

 

 

 

Do your part to protect privacy and internet freedom . Click the link to see how .

 

 

 

 

 

—

FBI : Anonymous Regularly Hacking Into Government Data

Report: FBI Warns Of US Govt Breaches Linked To Anonymous Hackers

 

 

 

” In a memo it distributed this week, the FBI warned that a breach of US government systems was “a widespread problem that should be addressed,” according to a Reuters report.

Activist hackers linked to the collective known as Anonymous have secretly accessed U.S. government computers in multiple agencies and stolen sensitive information in a campaign that began almost a year ago, the FBI warned this week.

The hackers exploited a flaw in Adobe Systems Inc’s software to launch a rash of electronic break-ins that began last December, then left “back doors” to return to many of the machines as recently as last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a memo seen by Reuters.

The memo, distributed on Thursday, described the attacks as “a widespread problem that should be addressed.” It said the breach affected the U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and perhaps many more agencies.”

 

We Are Anonymous

We Are Legion

We Do Not Forgive

We Do Not Forget

Expect Us

 

 

 

 

 

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Aaron Swartz’s Legacy: US media’s new system to shield leaks

Remember Aaron Swartz

Help Us Remember Aaron Swartz By Participating in Our Week-of-Action, Demanding Congress Reform the CFAA

 

 

 

 

” Today, EFF and a host of organizations across the political spectrum are launching a week-of-action imploring Congress to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)—the expansive law used to prosecute the late activist and Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz.

We’re asking Congress for three specific, common-sense fixes to the CFAA, which will bring the outdated law into the 21st Century:

• No more criminal penalties for violating a website’s fine print or an employee manual

• No criminal penalties for circumvention techniques that protect privacy and promote security

• Make penalties proportionate to offenses and stop punishing virtual crimes more harshly than physical world crimes”

 

 

 

 

 

 

—–

Support The Whistle-Blower Defense League

Whistle-Blower Defense League Fights Government Oppression To Protect 1st Amendment

 

 

 

” When the media, big business and big government are working in collusion to further their respective agendas, the general populace — putting faith in the information, policy and business practices of the aforementioned entities — usually gets shafted. But in a free society, whistle-blowers serve as a great equalizer in the battle between everyman and elitist; unfortunately, the U.S. legal system as it currently stands dissuades or, worse, destroys those who bring to light abuse, incompetence and corruption.

Over the course of the past year, the plight of the American whistle-blower has been highly publicized with the military trial of military leaker Bradley Manning under way, Stratfor hacker Jeremy Hammond in jail awaiting a trial, Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer’s imprisonment for pointing out an AT&T security flaw and the late Aaron Swartz’s Federal harassment and subsequent suicide after he downloaded academic journals and made them free to the public.”

 

Related articles

• Court ruling could strip federal whistle-blowers of ability to appeal (bizjournals.com)
• We Are Bradley Manning (truthdig.com)
• NYPD Whistle-Blower Testifies In Stop-And-Frisk Trial (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Housing executive ‘out of control’ (bbc.co.uk)

 

 

 

—

Swartz Prosecutorial Misconduct … Holder Praises Prosecutors

Aaron Swartz Lawyers Accuse Prosecutor Stephen Heymann Of Misconduct

 

 

 

” WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutor Stephen Heymann engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by withholding key evidence from the defense team of Aaron Swartz, the late Internet activist’s legal team alleged in a letter to an internal Justice Department ethics unit.

Heymann took the lead in the much-criticized effort to imprison Swartz, who committed suicide in January, and was the attorney who handled the case on a day-to-day basis, reporting to U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz. Swartz’ attorney Eliot Peters has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility, a step that indicates just how egregious the defense team considers Heymann’s professional behavior. A redacted version of the letter was obtained by The Huffington Post.

In the document, Peters argues that Heymann withheld exculpatory evidence. At issue was whether the federal government had properly obtained a warrant to search Swartz’ computer and thumb drive. Peters argued that the government failed by waiting more than a month to obtain the warrant. Heymann countered that he couldn’t get a warrant because he didn’t have access to the equipment. But an email in Heymann’s possession, which was written to Heymann himself, showed that assertion to be untrue.”

 

 

 

Attorney General Eric Holder: Prosecutors In Aaron Swartz Case Did A Great Job

 

 

Related articles

• Aaron Swartz’s Girlfriend Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman Slams Eric Holder’s Claims (intellihub.com)
• Secret Service accused of misconduct in Aaron Swartz case (rt.com)
• Misconduct All Around …. A Justice Department Specialty (youviewed.com)
• Stephen Heymann Involved in Swartz Investigation before Arrest (emptywheel.net)
• Anonymous To Hold Boston Rally In Honor Of Aaron Swartz Tomorrow (Friday 1/25) (thephoenix.com)
• Sign now, get the US Attorney who hounded Aaron Swartz fired (boingboing.net)
• ‘Fire Steve Heymann’ Petition Reaches Threshold, Must Be Answered By White House (huffingtonpost.com)

 

 

 

 

—-

Misconduct All Around …. A Justice Department Specialty

Secret Service Accused Of Misconduct In Aaron Swartz Case

 

 

 

” The former girlfriend of computer hacker Aaron Swartz is lashing out at the US Justice Department after Attorney General Eric Holder defended the prosecution that some say drove the prodigy into committing suicide.

Swartz took his own life in January while waiting to stand trial in a federal computer fraud case that could have ended with him serving upwards of 35 years in prison. Earlier this week, Attorney General Holder said the suicide was a“tragedy” but that the prosecution was indeed by the books.

 

“Eric Holder and the Department of Justice are clearly trying to mislead the Senate and the public,” she says. “Holder claims that Aaron was only facing months in prison while [Assistant US Attorney Stephen] Heymann and [US Attorney Carmen] Ortiz were actively pursuing a penalty of seven years if the case went to trial. If you believe you’re innocent, you should not be coerced into accepting a plea bargain that marks you as a felon for life, just because prosecutors want to boast about taking a scalp.” “

Related articles

• RT: Secret Service accused of misconduct in Aaron Swartz case (aworldchaos.wordpress.com)
• AG Holder’s Defense of Swartz Prosecution is Troubling (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
• Eric Holder: Aaron Swartz Case ‘A Good Use Of Prosecutorial Discretion’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• US Attorney General defends handling of Aaron Swartz case (networkworld.com)
• Aaron Swartz Faced Max Jail Time of 3-5 Months (mashable.com)
• Eric Holder Makes it Clear DOJ’s Culture – Not the Prosecutor – Is the Problem in Swartz Case (reason.com)
• US Attorney General says Aaron Swartz case was a “good use of prosecutorial discretion” (slashgear.com)

 

 

 

—-

The Government Is Our Adversary … No Ifs , Ands , Or Buts

DoJ Admits Aaron’s Prosecution Was Political

 

 

 

 

” The DOJ has told Congressional investigators that Aaron’s prosecution was motivated by his political views on copyright.

I was going to start that last paragraph with “In a stunning turn of events,” but I realized that would be inaccurate — because it’s really not that surprising. Many people speculated throughout the whole ordeal that this was a political prosecution, motivated by anything/everything from Aaron’s effective campaigning against SOPA to his run-ins with the FBI over the PACER database. But Aaron actually didn’t believe it was — he thought it was overreach by some local prosecutors who didn’t really understand the internet and just saw him as a high-profile scalp they could claim, facilitated by a criminal justice system and computer crime laws specifically designed to give prosecutors, however incompetent or malicious, all the wrong incentives and all the power they could ever want.

But this HuffPo article, and what I’m hearing from sources on the Hill, suggest that that’s not true. That Ortiz and Heymann knew exactly what they were doing: Shutting up, and hopefully locking up, an extremely effective activist whose political views, including those on copyright, threatened the Powers That Be:”

HT/Instapundit

Related articles

• Aaron Swartz Laid to Rest with an Action Plan For Us (crooksandliars.com)
• Aaron Swartz’s family releases statement, blames overreaching prosecutors for his untimely death (theverge.com)
• Swartz suicide puts the focus on over-aggressive prosecutor (theverge.com)
• Anonymous attacks MIT websites after death of internet activist Aaron Swartz (guardian.co.uk)
• Aaron Swartz Another Victim Of Government Abuse Of Power (youviewed.com)
• Sign now, get the US Attorney who hounded Aaron Swartz fired (boingboing.net)
• Aaron Swartz Isn’t the First Hacker to Commit Suicide in the Face of a Federal Investigation (theatlanticwire.com)

Aaron Swartz Another Victim Of Government Abuse Of Power

 

 

 

Why You Should Care About the Death of Internet Activist Aaron Swartz, The Internet Remains Free in Large Part Because of His Efforts

 Video At The Link

 

 

 

“Aaron’s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach.”

Aaron led the way in the effort to stop SOPA. Every single person in the world who values the free flow of information on the Internet, and the free market of ideas owes this young man a debt of gratitude.”

Related articles

• Hacktivist: Swartz’ Death Symbolizes ‘Prosecutorial Overreach’ in US (voicerussia.com)
• RIP Aaron Swartz Legacy (thehackersmedia.blogspot.com)
• Aaron Swartz keynote – “How we stopped SOPA” . . . please take the time to read the Intro below the video . . . ~J (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• ‘Anonymous’ hacks DOJ website to avenge Aaron Swartz (bizpacreview.com)
• Aaron Swartz stopped SOPA, his persecution political – Kim Dotcom to RT; WikiLeaks confirms relationship with Aaron Swartz (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• Jerry Brito on How the Threat of Draconian Punishment Drove Aaron Swartz to Suicide (reason.com)
• Anonymous hacks MIT websites after Aaron Swartz’s death (go.theregister.com)
• Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz hounded to death (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)

Anonymous Strikes Again

Hackers Take Over Gov’t Website To Avenge Swartz

 

 

” The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago “a line was crossed.”

The message read in part:

Citizens of the world,
“Anonymous has observed for some time now the trajectory of justice in the United States with growing concern. We have marked the departure of this system from the noble ideals in which it was born and enshrined. We have seen the erosion of due process, the dilution of constitutional rights, the usurpation of the rightful authority of courts by the “discretion” of prosecutors. We have seen how the law is wielded less and less to uphold justice, and more and more to exercise control, authority and power in the interests of oppression or personal gain.”The hackers say they’ve infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.”

 

 

Related articles

• Anonymous takes down US Sentencing Commission website (guardian.co.uk)
• Hacktivists strike government web site, threaten massive exposure of secret U.S. documents (wgntv.com)
• Hackers take over gov’t website to avenge Aaron Swartz (cbsnews.com)
• Anonymous hacks US agency website (bbc.co.uk)
• Hackers take over gov’t website to avenge Swartz – CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• Hackers take over sentencing commission website (kansascity.com)

A Caswell Victory Over “Asset Forfeiture”

Triumphant Motel Owner Slams Carmen Ortiz

 

 

 

” A Tewksbury motel owner who just beat back U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s three-year bid to seize his business has become the latest critic to accuse the Hub’s top fed of prosecutorial bullying.

“I don’t think she should have the power she has to pull this stuff on people,” Russ Caswell, owner of the Motel Caswell, told the Herald last night after a judge’s ruling in his favor.

The feds first tried to grab Caswell’s property in 2009 under drug seizure laws, citing numerous drug busts at the motel. Caswell’s defense team argued that he was not responsible for what guests did. And his lawyers found there was actually more drug activity at nearby businesses, and theorized the government was going after Caswell, who has no criminal record, because his mortgage-free property is worth more than $1 million.

“It’s bullying by the government. And it’s a huge waste of taxpayer money,” said Caswell, whose father built the motel in 1955. “This has been a huge financial and physical toll. It’s thrown our whole family into turmoil. You work for all your life to pay for something and these people come along and think it’s theirs. It’s just wrong. The average person can’t afford to fight this.” ”

 

 

   Ironic that the Federal judge in the Caswell case , Carmen Ortiz , is the same one that has been thrust into the spotlight as the prosecuting attorney in the late Aaron Swartz’s case . Swartz , it should be recalled is the internet pioneer , co-founder of Reddit that was facing up to 35 years in jail and $1 million in fines when he took his own life several weeks ago . 

Related articles

• Carmen Ortiz’s Sordid Rap Sheet (whowhatwhy.com)
• Tewksbury motel owner wins battle against feds in high-profile property seizure case (bizjournals.com)
• Triumphant motel owner slams Carmen Ortiz (bostonherald.com)
• Judge Dismisses Government Seizure Attempt Of Tewksbury Motel (wbur.org)
• Mass. motel owner wins fight to stop forfeiture (sfgate.com)
• Owner wins court battle against feds trying to seize his Tewksbury motel (boston.com)
• AFP PODCAST: U.S. Gov’t Loses High-Profile Civil Forfeiture Case (americanfreepress.net)
• Swartz didn’t face prison until feds took over case, report says (oddonion.com)
• New Questions for Aaron Swartz’s Prosecutor, Whose Career Is Filled with Cases of Picking on the Weak (alternet.org)

Anonymous Strikes MIT

Anonymous Hacktivists Target MIT Websites Over Aaron Swartz Suicide

 

 

 

” Hackers claiming affiliation with Anonymous, a loose-knit group of internet activists, defaced pages on MIT websites, calling the case against Mr Swartz “a grotesque miscarriage of justice”.

“Whether or not the government contributed to his suicide, the government’s prosecution of Swartz was a grotesque miscarriage of justice, a distorted and perverse shadow of the justice that Aaron died fighting for – freeing the publicly-funded scientific literature from a publishing system that makes it inaccessible to most of those who paid for it – enabling the collective betterment of the world through the facilitation of sharing – an ideal that we should all support,” it said.

“Aaron’s act was undoubtedly political activism; it had tragic consequences.”

The message, labelled “in memoriam”, was posted on at least two hacked MIT web pages, but the hackers said they did not “consign blame or responsibility upon MIT for what has happened”. ”

 

 

Related articles

• Anonymous hacks MIT web site after death of web activist Aaron Swartz (venturebeat.com)
• Anonymous hacks MIT web pages in tribute to Aaron Swartz (thenextweb.com)
• Anonymous hacks MIT after Aaron Swartz’s suicide (news.cnet.com)
• MIT website hacked after pledge to investigate Aaron Swartz case (wired.co.uk)
• MIT Probes Role in Case Leading to Web Activist’s Death – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• RIP Aaron Swartz (youviewed.com)
• Anonymous replaces MIT websites with Aaron Swartz memorial, calls for copyright reform (theverge.com)

RIP Aaron Swartz

Reddit Co-Founder Commits Suicide

 

 

Picture of Aaron Swartz (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

” The Internet genius behind the popular Web site Reddit.com committed suicide at his Brooklyn home today, police sources and friends said.

Cops discovered Aaron Swartz unconscious at 9:30 a.m. and are now investigating whether he hanged himself, law enforcement sources said.

Swartz helped create Reddit and drafted an early version of the RSS format, a “Web feed” that syndicates popular headlines.

Friends yesterday called him a prolific intellectual — and a computer geek legend — who had long suffered from depression.

“We have lost someone today who had more work to do — and who made the world a better place,” his pal Cory Doctorow wrote on the blog Biong Boing.

Swartz was also an avid Internet activist, who pushed to make web files open to the public. He opposed the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” which keeps hackers from swiping web content such as music and movies. “

Related articles

• Co-Founder Of Reddit.com Commits Suicide (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
• Former Reddit Co-Owner and Internet Activist Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide (gizmodo.com)
• Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit, dead at 26 (thestar.com)
• Tech Prodigy and Internet Activist Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide (business.time.com)
• Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide (news.slashdot.org)
• Hacker and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz dies (theverge.com)