Jacob Appelbaum in Germany

Cathal Garvey cathalgarvey at cathalgarvey.me
Mon Jan 6 04:33:36 PST 2014


But he'd have been a felon, then. And unable to participate meaningfully
in politics from "the inside", which I gather to have been his ultimate
mission. Aaron was the ultimate white-knight, he wanted to go all the
way to the White House and fix things from the inside.

Of course, he'd have failed; systems like this aren't constructed, they
*evolve* by surviving many white knights and adapting to them. Part of
the defense system (according to my pet theory of
corrupt-state-evolution) of a long-lived corruption is "wayside
tempatations" in the form of seemingly unbelievable illegalities that
are trivially assaulted on their basis, but which in so doing
permanently remove someone from the establishment.

In other words, as white knights rise through the system, they are
increasingly tempted to use their expanding power and influence to
attack problems within their reach, but when they do so they are picked
off from the ladder of power, leaving their carefree sociopathic
brethren to rise to power.

In Aaron's case, he saw copyright and privatisation of publicly funded
research as anathema, which of course it is. And being at that point of
some power and influence for his tier of political clout, he felt he
could use his academic ties to cover for his "Open Access Manifesto". In
fact, he probably could have done, if MIT stood with him and referred to
his work as research; I imagine he was surprised that they didn't.

Other "wayside temptations" are things like criminalisation of piracy,
drug war, institutional racism, censorship, surveillance, tax evasion by
the wealthy and overtaxation of the poor. All of these and more are
issues that, if addressed directly by a rising star, can either lead to
felonies or criminalities, or merely an avenue by which to strip a
person of their political viability by PR assault.

To read several accounts by those who knew him well, it appears to me
that Aaron wasn't trying to escape a long-or-short prison term, but the
loss of any chance to pursue his dream of political reform through the
supposedly-legitimate, electionary route.

On 01/01/14 20:28, Jim Bell wrote:
> 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 <carimachet at gmail.com>
> To: Jim Bell <jamesdbell8 at yahoo.com> 
> Cc: "cypherpunks at cpunks.org" <cypherpunks at cpunks.org>; "lists at silent1.net" <lists at silent1.net> 
> Sent: Wednesday, January 1, 2014 1:04 AM
> Subject: Re: Jacob Appelbaum in Germany
>  
> 
> 
> I sincerely wish you could have helped aaron it is all beyond sad and though some of his projects are being carried out i think we have to do more - Yes I am aware you are an alumni - do u have connections with other alumni ? We think the alumni are a pressure point they cld not ignore 
> 
> Will connect with you further as the project progresses 
> 
> Thanks very very much 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On 31.12.2013, at 20:59, Jim Bell <jamesdbell8 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> I am an alum of MIT (Class of 1980; Chemistry).  I've just read the Wikipedia article on Aaron Swartz, and I am very sympathetic to him.   I wish I'd been aware of his situation while he was alive; I might have been able to help, and would have tried to do so.
>>           Jim Bell
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Cari Machet <carimachet at gmail.com>
>> To: Silent1 <lists at silent1.net> 
>> Cc: cpunks <cypherpunks at cpunks.org> 
>> 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 <lists at silent1.net> 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 at 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 <griffin at cryptolab.net>
>>> 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 at 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>
>>
>> Ruh-roh, this is now necessary: This email is intended only for the
>> addressee(s) and may contain confidential information. If you are not the
>> intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use of this
>> information, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this email without
>> permission is strictly prohibited.
>>
>>
>>
>>



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