The Trial: Aaron Swartz and the CFAA

There is a death that happened on Friday, and the death is the trial: Aaron Swartz, twenty six, programmer and activist, cofounder of Reddit, creator of RSS and Creative Commons, found in his Brooklyn apartment on January 11. The trial is the case: thirteen federal counts under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the downloads of 4.8 million academic articles from JSTOR through MIT's network, the laptop in a closet, the MAC addresses that were changed. The trial is this week's story: the grief across the internet, the statements from the family, the petition against the United States Attorney, the CFAA debate that went mainstream. The trial is the January 2013 story, and the story is the lesson: the law written for another era, the prosecution pushed too far, the young man who died before the trial.

The Trial is the subject of this article: who Aaron Swartz was, what the downloads were, what the thirteen counts meant, and what Friday demands of the law.

1. The Life and the Work

The life is the beginning, and the beginning is the work: the programmer who built things, the teenager who helped create RSS, the license that became Creative Commons, the site that became Reddit, the sale to Condé Nast in 2006. The life is the record: the internet that he helped shape, the free culture movement, the open access movement, the belief that knowledge should be shared, that academic work belongs to the world, that paywalls are a kind of prison. The life is the memory: the twenty six years, the projects, the talks, the friends, the legacy that one week turned into grief.

The life is also the context: the advocate for open access who saw the JSTOR archive as a locked library, the organizer who helped lead the fight against SOPA in 2011 and 2012, the activist who believed that civil disobedience has a place in the digital world. The life is the portrait that emerged this week: the young man described by his mentor Lawrence Lessig, by his friend Cory Doctorow, by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the idealist who was generous and stubborn. The life is the question: how did the story of a young activist become the story of a federal prosecution?

2. The Downloads

The downloads are the fact, and the fact is the archive: the JSTOR collection of academic journals, the millions of articles, the network of MIT, the laptop that was hidden in a closet, the months of 2010 and 2011, the 4.8 million articles. The downloads are the method: the IP address that was banned, the MAC address that was changed, the ban that was evaded, the access that continued. The downloads are the charge sheet: the act that the government would call a crime, the act that JSTOR would call a settlement, the act that the internet would call a protest.

The downloads are also the motive: the activist who wanted the articles opened, the belief that research funded by the public should serve the public, the frustration with the paywalls, the decision to take the archive in bulk. The downloads are the January 2013 rereading: the act that looks different after Friday, the scale that looks different, the 4.8 million that now reads as a number in an obituary. The downloads are the lesson in proportion: the archive that JSTOR had already settled, the institution that did not ask for prosecution, the punishment that the government still pursued, the harm that was already repaired.

3. The Charges

The charges are the escalation, and the escalation is the law: the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the wire fraud counts, the thirteen counts, the federal prosecutors who filed in 2011, the theories that stretched the statute. The charges are the mathematics: the counts that could be stacked, the maximums that could be added, the thirty five years that the government's theories allowed, the fifty that some coverage suggested, the trial that was set for April. The charges are the weight: the felony that hung over a twenty six year old, the plea offer of six months that was rejected.

The charges are also the debate: the statute that was written before the internet matured, the access that was authorized in one reading and unauthorized in another, the terms of service that became a criminal code, the overreach that critics named from the first day. The charges are the January 2013 focus: the CFAA that everyone now discusses, the reform that everyone now demands, the push that went mainstream this week. The charges are the question: what is a crime when the door is open, when the network is public, when the harm is a settled civil matter, when the defendant is an activist?

4. The Reaction

The reaction is the record, and the record is the restraint: JSTOR that settled civilly, JSTOR that said it did not want prosecution, MIT that stayed neutral, MIT that did not object, the institutions that declined to be the victims. The reaction is the isolation: the prosecutor who stood alone with the theory, the defendant who stood alone against the machine, the case that became the symbol of prosecutorial overreach. The reaction is the warning: the calls that were made before Friday, the community that said the case was too much, the family that would blame the prosecution and the law.

The reaction is also the imbalance: the plea offer of six months that the government offered, the thirty five years that the theories allowed, the trial that the defendant chose, the risk that he carried alone into the courtroom, the months that stretched ahead. The reaction is the JSTOR fact: the archive that was the supposed victim, the settlement that resolved the harm, the statement that prosecution was not wanted, the case that continued anyway. The reaction is the January 2013 judgment: the case that now reads as the moment when the machinery of the law crushed a young man instead of correcting him.

5. The Death

The death is the rupture, and the rupture is Friday: January 11, 2013, the apartment in Brooklyn, the twenty six year old who took his own life, the activist who was gone, the trial that would never happen in April. The death is the silence: the news that spread through the internet within hours, the disbelief that followed, the tributes that multiplied, the grief that had no words. The death is the end: the story that stopped on Friday, the defendant who would never testify, the young man who would never explain himself to a jury, the family that would never hear a verdict.

The death is also the context: the prosecution that was pending, the trial that was approaching, the pressure that was mounting, the case that the family would blame, the statute that the community would blame. The death is the January 2013 reckoning: the young man who died while the government's case was alive, the law that outlived him, the questions that his death forced into the open. The death is the reminder: that a person is not a case number, that a defendant is not a theory, that the law touches a life, and that the life ended on Friday.

6. The Grief

The grief is the response, and the response is the internet: the statements that came this week, the family that spoke, the Electronic Frontier Foundation that spoke, Lawrence Lessig who was his mentor and his friend, Cory Doctorow who was his friend. The grief is the scale: the anger that moved across the web, the posts that were shared, the memorials that appeared, the community that felt the loss as its own. The grief is the record: the young man who was mourned in public, the cause that was mourned with him, the open access movement that lost its advocate.

The grief is also the blame: the family that blamed the prosecution, the community that blamed the CFAA, the case that was named in the tributes, the prosecutor who was named in the petitions, the anger that followed the mourning. The grief is the message: the young man who died, the law that hounded him, the theories that were too much, the plea that was not enough, the trial that never came to a courtroom. The grief is the January 2013 meaning: the loss that cannot be undone, the questions that cannot be unanswered, the reform that must now be pursued.

7. The Reckoning

The reckoning is the politics, and the politics is the petition: the call to remove the United States Attorney, Carmen Ortiz, the signatures that multiplied, the statement from the Middlesex District Attorney's office, the pressure that built in a single week. The reckoning is the debate: the CFAA reform that went mainstream, the statute that was suddenly in every news story, the prosecutors who were suddenly on the defensive, the questions that were finally asked. The reckoning is the January 14 moment: the grief that became politics, the death that became a cause, the law that became the target of the movement.

The reckoning is also the institution: MIT that issued a statement from its president, the university that was part of the story, the network that hosted the downloads, the neutrality that now looks different, the role that must now be examined. The reckoning is the system: the prosecutors who choose the charges, the statutes that allow the stacking, the discretion that shapes the outcome, the power that must be questioned. The reckoning is the leadership lesson: the officials who must explain themselves, the institutions that must examine their choices, the public that must hold them to account, the reform that must follow the grief.

8. The Lesson

The lesson is the proportion, and the proportion is the power: the prosecutor who held thirty five years over a young man, the plea offer of six months that was rejected, the case that grew until it broke him. The lesson is the statute: the CFAA that was written for hackers and trespassers, the law that was stretched to cover an activist, the terms of service that became felonies, the reform that the death demands. The lesson is the leadership: the discretion that must be used with restraint, the charges that must fit the harm, the young people who must be corrected.

The lesson is also the memory: the activist who built RSS, who cofounded Reddit, who created Creative Commons, who fought SOPA, who believed in open access, who died at twenty six. The lesson is the January 2013 story, and the story is the lesson: the downloads that were a protest, the prosecution that was an overreach, the death that was the verdict, the reform that is the only fitting memorial. The trial is the lesson, and the lesson is the law: the law that must protect the builders and the activists, and the law that must never again be used to break them.

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