Moments ago, Aaron Swartz, former executive director and founder of Demand Progress, was indicted by the US government. As best as we can tell, he is being charged with allegedly downloading too many scholarly journal articles from the Web. The government contends that downloading said articles is actually felony computer hacking and should be punished with time in prison.
Demand Progress is a prominent organizer of civil opposition to US government efforts to curtail freedom of information on the internet, including the kill switch and blacklist bills. They are political threat to a paranoid, cynical, and technologically ignorant worldview—and nothing else. If a member of their leadership has indeed been arrested on trumped up charges, it is disturbing to say the least.
The indictment.
