No, I'm sorry, I have no links with other MIT alums.
One big misunderstanding that would have been able to clear up with aaron swartz had I been aware of his situation, that I hope other readers will now learn, is the issue of how much time he (or other federal defendants) would have faced if convicted. Federal criminal laws generally include with them a statement of the maximum punishment that can be applied: They are generally even numbers, such as "5 years", "10 years", "15 years" or so. However, such statements are basically archaic: In 1987, the laws were changed (prisoners called it "new law") to calculate sentences based on the defendant's criminal history, the severity of the crime, and other facts. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Federal_Sentencing_Guidelines
The following sentencing table is part of that Wikipedia article. I assume that Aaron Swartz would have had a "zero" "criminal history", in other words the Column labelled "I" (0 or 1) would have been used. An offense level up to 8 would have specified a sentence between 0 and 6 months. I would have to look up the specific charges to see what he faced, but I strongly doubt that he would have been sentenced to over 2 years, and probably under 1 year.
Jim Bell
================quote from Wikipedia begins================
Sentencing table
The sentencing table is an integral part of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.[24]
The Offense Level (1-43) forms the vertical axis of the Sentencing
Table. The Criminal History Category (I-VI) forms the horizontal axis of the Table. The intersection of the Offense Level and Criminal History
Category displays the Guideline Range in months of imprisonment. "Life"
means life imprisonment. For example, the guideline range applicable to a defendant with an Offense Level of 15 and a Criminal History Category
of III is 24–30 months of imprisonment.
Sentencing Table (effective Nov. 2012)
(showing months of imprisonment)[25][26]
Offense Level ↓
Criminal History Category
(Criminal History Points)
I
(0 or 1)
II
(2 or 3)
III
(4,5,6)
IV
(7,8,9)
V
(10,11,12)
VI
(13+)
Zone A
10-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6
20-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 1-7
30-6 0-6 0-6 0-6 2-8 3-9
40-6 0-6 0-6 2-8 4-10 6-12
50-6 0-6 1-7 4-10 6-12 9-15
60-6 1-7 2-8 6-12 9-15 12-18
70-6 2-8 4-10 8-14 12-18 15-21
80-6 4-10 6-12 10-16 15-21 18-24
Zone B
94-10 6-12 8-14 12-18 18-24 21-27
106-12 8-14 10-16 15-21 21-27 24-30
118-14 10-16 12-18 18-24 24-30 27-33
Zone C
1210-16 12-18 15-21 21-27 27-33 30-37
1312-18 15-21 18-24 24-30 30-37 33-41
Zone D
1415-21 18-24 21-27 27-33 33-41 37-46
1518-24 21-27 24-30 30-37 37-46 41-51
1621-27 24-30 27-33 33-41 41-51 46-57
1724-30 27-33 30-37 37-46 46-57 51-63
1827-33 30-37 33-41 41-51 51-63 57-71
1930-37 33-41 37-46 46-57 57-71 63-78
2033-41 37-46 41-51 51-63 63-78 70-87
2137-46 41-51 46-57 57-71 70-87 77-96
2241-51 46-57 51-63 63-78 77-96 84-105
2346-57 51-63 57-71 70-87 84-105 92-115
2451-63 57-71 63-78 77-96 92-115 100-125
2557-71 63-78 70-87 84-105 100-125 110-137
2663-78 70-87 78-97 92-115 110-137 120-150
2770-87 78-97 87-108 100-125 120-150 130-162
2878-97 87-108 97-121 110-137 130-162 140-175
2987-108 97-121 108-135 121-151 140-175 151-188
3097-121 108-135 121-151 135-168 151-188 168-210
31108-135 121-151 135-168 151-188 168-210 188-235
32121-151 135-168 151-188 168-210 188-235 210-262
33135-168 151-188 168-210 188-235 210-262 235-293
34151-188 168-210 188-235 210-262 235-293 262-327
35168-210 188-235 210-262 235-293 262-327 292-365
36188-235 210-262 235-293 262-327 292-365 324-405
37210-262 235-293 262-327 292-365 324-405 360-life
38235-293 262-327 292-365 324-405 360-life 360-life
39262-327 292-365 324-405 360-life 360-life 360-life
40292-365 324-405 360-life 360-life 360-life 360-life
41324-405 360-life 360-life 360-life 360-life 360-life
42360-life 360-life 360-life 360-life 360-life 360-life
43life life life life life life
________________________________
From: Cari Machet
Jim Bell
________________________________ From: Cari Machet
To: Silent1 Cc: cpunks Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2013 8:03 AM Subject: Re: Jacob Appelbaum in Germany dear sir
we are reaching out to MIT alumni to make a public call of outrage re among other things the aaron swartz treatment by MIT would u b willing to b included?
specifically we would b asking for shifts in functionality not just complaining to the bricks
THANKS
On 12/31/13, Silent1
wrote: Ahh, Dogecoin, didn't an online wallet service of theirs get hacked last week and completely cleaned out of hundreds of thousands of coins?
-----Original Message----- From: cypherpunks [mailto:cypherpunks-bounces@cpunks.org] On Behalf Of coderman Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2013 8:51 AM To: Griffin Boyce Cc: cpunks Subject: Re: Jacob Appelbaum in Germany
On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 12:32 AM, Griffin Boyce
wrote: ... I prefer my shared hallucinations to be in the form of Lindens [1], ...
i'll let you cypherpunks in on a secret financial tip: the smart money banks in dogecoin: http://dogecoin.com/
-- Cari Machet NYC 646-436-7795 carimachet@gmail.com AIM carismachet Skype carimachet - 646-652-6434 Syria +963-099 277 3243 Amman +962 077 636 9407 Berlin +49 152 11779219 Twitter: @carimachet https://twitter.com/carimachet
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