Remember also during the pandemic that a bunch of publushers got up in arms about archive.org opening up their library to be unrestricted, to make sure access to books was easier at a time when people who relied on libraries could no longer access them.
They then talked authors into supporting the lawsuit due to “lost revenue”.
After a few months the authors realised it had done literally no damage and several asked the publishers to drop the lawsuit. But it turns out this wasn’t for the authors, it was for publishers, who see online libraries as a threat to be stopped.
Aaron was facing charges, and a really bad deal, and he took his life. He was never sentenced because there was no time for that, but it’s obvious that things weren’t going well for him, and that he was attacked disproportionally.
Meta is still facing investigation and will go to court still, and will very likely face charges for torrenting the data, same as Anthropic. They have not been sentenced because there was been no trial yet, it’s still under investigation, because it will be a harsher penalty if it can be proved that they uploaded in addition to downloaded.
I think this is inaccurate enough to consider it misinformation (IMHO).
Yes, it is obvious that we all should fight Meta and praise Aaron Swartz. And it’s true that the legal system is fucked up, and someone with power and money is in total advantage. But as despicable as Meta is, I don’t think that saying wrong things is going to be the way to fight for our rights. There are already good enough arguments if we stay true to the facts.
Tsk. Aaron Schwartz was a person, silly - and thus subject to laws in the USA.
Mark Zuckerberg directed his company Facebook to perform the illegal action. Facebook is a corporation - and thus writes the laws in the USA, while of course being exempt to them (barring occasional small fines to keep the rabble believing they’re not).
One day maybe the rest of the US public will wake up to the fact that it’s a corporate oligarchy and take some action, but I don’t think it will be until some really irrefutable and impactful issues occur. Bread and circuses, as they say. Or maybe Walmart and Netflix to update the idiom.
Hamburger time for Mark.
Well, it’s his own fault for not being a billionaire!
Remember to incorporate before doing anything illegal
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I read a piece a while back that included a lot of comments from people close to him. They said that the federal case against him severely demoralised him, because even if his punishment ended up being minor, it would be enough to basically destroy his ability to lobby/campaign for the issues he was passionate about, effectively destroying his career. He was also apparently someone who was quite uncomfortable with the limelight, and the case against him made him into the kind of public figure who can get no respite from the public gaze. I can’t imagine how overwhelming that must’ve felt.
I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that Aaron Schwartz didn’t take his own life. However, morally, I would agree that he was murdered.
I also seem to remember reading something like that. I had to go digging for it again. Was it “Requiem for a Dream” in The New Yorker?
Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the most garbage humans to ever exist. He’s done so much damage to the human collective, and yet gets to skate and not be blamed. Enjoy your chunk of Hawaii dickhead.
Social Media bullshit was going to happen either way. Silicon Valley is full of wannabe Zucks so I’m not sure things would turn out different either way.
Though he is the one, who actually did these things, so he should be hated for them. Sure, if it would have been someone else, we would hate that asshole instead
Social media was going to happen, but there was never a need for it to turn into the dystopian Hellhole it’s become.
Capitalism ensures that regardless of the person on charge. Unless all the major social media companies manage to resist the urge to go public the stock market ensures enshittification.
Underhated? 🤔
On this echo chamber site, he’s maybe appropriately hated. To the world at large he’s definitely not
“Took his life”
My grandfather was a fortunate man all his life. He enjoyed a lot of success in his personal life, in business, and in every aspect. We didn’t talk a whole lot, but when he started feeling sick and we knew the end was coming, he opened up quite a bit.
One day I went to visit him and he motioned for me to come closer. I moved closer to his bed, the bed we both probably knew that would be his deathbed. He had a stern look on his face, and he gave a gravelly whisper: “Son, do you want to know the secret to good fortune?”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I knew I was only seconds away from learning whatever combination of wisdom, luck and skill that he had worked on his whole life.
He told me: “If you want to be successful, first make a billion dollars.”
Since then, I’ve noticed he was absolutely correct. Ever notice how the world itself seems to bend to the will of billionaires? From that day on, I was a changed man and I vowed to get that billion dollars for myself.
Sweetest boy we were ever privileged to have. Do all you can to keep information free.
Has anyone noticed that Aaron looks a lot like John Mulaney?
“…but what should we do when the highborn and wealthy take to crime? Indeed, if a poor man will spend a year in prison for stealing out of hunger, how high would the gallows need to be to hang the rich man who breaks the law out of greed?”
― Terry Pratchett, Snuff
RIP, Aaron.
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Imagine a world where he was still here and became the antibroligarch.
Not like he would have been some kind of leftist folk hero giving up all his wealth or anything. Literally just one honest voice in the tech industry willing to acknowledge reality, and the ridiculous double standard for expectation of privacy for anyone who isn’t part of the inner circle of elites (technocrat or otherwise).
Pretend the public has no expectation of privacy or ownership of their own data, and that it’s for their own good and safety. If anyone protests just pretend they’re unpatriotic and/or standing in the way of progress.
Meanwhile, refuse to hand over files that were collected on the tax payer’s dime bc they implicate you and likely many of your friends in some pretty horrific crimes.
And most importantly, whenever in doubt, fall back on that old talking point that an invasion of your privacy is necessary for our children’s safety. We need invasive public surveillance to protect our children. We shouldn’t try to regulate or limit surveillance technology bc it can be used to find missing children. We shouldn’t be asking so many questions about what they’re doing bc they’re focused on the bigger picture of protecting our children while also apparently protecting their rich friends.
Who exactly are We protecting our children from by allowing this network of elites to have unlimited access to all of our data and information with no accountability or public oversight?
I despise meta and the fact they’re not being punished for this.
He didn’t just download stuff, he installed a server on their network to do it. A bit different.
His punishment was still beyond the pale.
He also had every legal right to download those articles
Its fair to note he was never sentenced.
Because he killed himself, they offered him a terribly unfair plea deal.
He installed a server on facebook’s network?
On a university network.
I remember the story from years ago. This sounds about right. Other commenter made it sound like he installed the server on meta’s network (which would have still just been Facebook at the time.)
Aaron broke open a cabinet and installed a server at a secure site on located on a campus. He was never sentenced, though.
