Also, this is my blog, so I am going to state my opinion.

I am sad this Aaron Swartz committed suicide. I'm am sad if the penalty was going to be super-unjust.

But why have we all lost sight of personal accountability?
This kid downloaded 4.8 MILLION documents from JSTOR, and was likely going to use the for personal gain.
There are researchers that are fed from those publications. There are academic institutions that pay thousands for access to those.

It was illegal.
It's called HACKING.
He should have had a pretty good idea it wasn't good.

Now he's being immortalized like a hero.
There are folks that have died out there, quietly, living their life the honest way.

I'd just prefer to celebrate them.

Maybe the government bullied. I don't support that.
But I have a feeling hacking is going to be very serious problem over the next few years, and you know what? Maybe a deterrent isn't such a bad thing (vs the 6 months in prison plea bargain others are proposing).

Genius never innocuated anyone from the application and consequences of the law.

Again, I am SAD, but all this hoopla on his behalf I cannot and will not get into.
And you know what? I'm glad MIT isn't supporting those values.