Swartz didn't face prison until feds took over case, report says

[Are_grits_groceries]

State prosecutors who investigated the late Aaron Swartz had planned to let him off with a stern warning, but federal prosecutor Carmen Ortiz took over and chose to make an example of the Internet activist, according to a report in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Middlesex County's district attorney had planned no jail time, "with Swartz duly admonished and then returned to civil society to continue his pioneering electronic work in a less legally questionable manner," the report (alternate link) said. "Tragedy intervened when Ortiz's office took over the case to send 'a message.'"

The report is likely to fuel an online campaign against Ortiz, who has been criticized for threatening the 26-year-old with decades in prison for allegedly downloading a large quantity of academic papers. An online petition asking President Obama to remove from office Ortiz -- a politically ambitious prosecutor who was talked about as Massachusetts' next governor as recently as last month.

Ortiz, 57, also came under fire this week for her attempt to seize a family-owned motel in Tewksbury, Mass., for allegedly facilitating drug crimes, despite ample evidence that the owners worked closely with local police. In a stinging rebuke, U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein tossed out the case yesterday, siding with the motel owners -- represented by the public-interest law firm Institute for Justice -- and noting (PDF) that prosecutors had alleged a mere "15 specific drug-related incidents" over a 14-year period during which "the Motel Caswell rented out approximately 196,000 rooms."
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57565927-38/swartz-didnt-face-prison-until-feds-took-over-case-report-says/

Well, I hope Little Miss Ambitious is happy. Seems she was interested in adding wins to her record no matter what the cost.

[napoleon_in_rags]

1. This case requires careful examination.

We have Ortiz noted for organized crime convictions before all this went down, and that should be a call for us to look very closely and question what we see.

But I have to be honest: careful examination of this has so far lead me to the conclusion that it stinks to high heaven.

The person to zoom in to with all this is actually Bob Swartz, the father. His research was clearly in 3D printing, local manufacturing. He promised the ability for Americans to manufacture any part they wanted at home. This technology is controversial. Cody Wilson was named on of the 15 most dangerous people in the world for printing out parts to an AR15, and the tech Bob Swartz was working with was thousands of times better than anything Cody Wilson touched... real metal parts, not cheap plastic like Wilson produced. Metal parts so cleanly cut they could make the delicate pieces of a clock. Promising "orders of magnitude" improvements for production times, threatening the whole manufacturing status quo.

Remember leftists, what Marx warned us was the threat of capitalism:

[iHowever, in the same letter to Vera Zasulich, Marx points out that "at the core of the capitalist system ... lies the complete separation of the producer from the means of production]

The fostering of total dependency of the people on distant remote manufacturers: The reason you can turn over just about any item at Wal-Mart and see "made in China" on the bottom. To conquer the people, the people must be cut off from their own creative capacity to take care of themselves, to make their own goods, to provide for themselves with the fruits of their own labor. Its pure marxist theory, being used against the people of the US. The technology Bob Swartz was directly working on directly facilitated independence for American people. His technology had the promise to create a new technological revolution, where the production of physical goods is as diverse and as free as the production of ideas on the Internet.

And what happened? His wife was taken with a terrible disease, kept in the hospital for months. His son "hung" himself.

Yet the people are not afraid, and will continue to seek the means to empower themselves with the local manufacturing revolution.

[HiPointDem]

3. interesting. i didn't know that about the father. it also puts the son's activism in a different

light.

[napoleon_in_rags]

5. Definitely. The main thing that makes me speculate is the simple fact that Aaron did so little to...

...threaten. If you really look at his "crimes", not only were the punishments way overblown, but its hard to think of anyone, even some shadowy corporate power behind the scenes who would be threatened by them. The "orders of magnitude faster" high grade printing technology Bob Swartz was working on could threaten the entire manufacturing status quo.

[uponit7771]

4. They're not going to be able to stop advanced in 3d pringing and metal printing...the

...collective community around it is huge but I've seen people do things that are more stupid

[HiPointDem]

2. kr. she needs to go, now.

[smirkymonkey]

6. +10.000

I will kick that to high heaven.