Fw: Jacob Appelbaum in Germany

[Jim Bell]

From: James A. Donald <jamesd at echeque.com>

To: cypherpunks at cpunks.org 
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2013 2:54 PM
Subject: Re: Jacob Appelbaum in Germany
 

"James A. Donald"


>> As to Swartz he
 didn't commit any real crime so he never was, or pretended
>> to be, 'above the law'.
>Accessing someone else's computers without permission to obtain the 
>information therein is trespass.  The powerful trespass against the less 
>powerful.  He had mistaken ideas about how powerful he was.

My understanding (from reading the Wikipedia article on Swartz an hour ago) was that he accessed "PACER" information.   (  http://www.pacer.gov/   )    The information in PACER (which I have used a few times before, for example to access the docket for fake, forged, fraudulent "appeal" case 99-30210) is simply Federal court case files.  (Dockets; filings).  This material is legally in the public domain:  It is not even copyrighted.  I don't know if Swartz did anything 'illegal' to get into the computer that had the information, but I doubt that.
   Incidentally, the charge for PACER documents is now $0.10 per page, but if you run up a charge of less than $15.00 in a calendar quarter, there is no charge.  (In other words, less than 150 pages downloaded are free)
      Jim Bell  
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