Internet Activist Charged in M.I.T. Data Theft

[Derechos]

2:19 p.m. | Updated Added links to documents and comment from United States Attorney’s office in Boston.

2:48 p.m. | Updated Changed headline and post to remove reference to Mr. Swartz being a co-founder of Reddit, as this is disputed. Added comment from Demand Progress.

Aaron Swartz, a 24-year-old programmer and online political activist, was indicted Tuesday in Boston on charges that he stole more than four million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. (Read the full indictment.)

The charges were filed by the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Carmen M. Ortiz, and could result in up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

In a press release, Ms. Ortiz’s office said that Mr. Swartz broke into a restricted area of M.I.T. and entered a computer wiring closet. Mr. Swartz apparently then accessed the M.I.T. computer network and took millions of documents from JSTOR.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/reddit-co-founder-charged-with-data-theft/