[act-ma] SAT, APR 13: Demand Justice for Aaron Swartz

[Evan Greer]

THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 13th


Rally and March at 12 Noon in Dewey Square, Boston


DEMAND JUSTICE FOR AARON SWARTZ!


FIX THE CFAA!


HOLD THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE ACCOUNTABLE!


*Click here <http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/boston_rally/>* to RSVP,
and *click here to use
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/events/585589498118269/>
* to invite your friends.


Read more:


I’m writing about Aaron Swartz, an innovator, entrepreneur, and social
justice advocate who died in January – and asking for your support at a
rally on April 13. Aaron co-authored RSS 1.0 (the web's format for sharing
and distributing content) *at the age of 14*, co-founded the social news
website Reddit, and helped stop an internet censorship bill. But this past
January, facing decades in prison on trumped up charges, Aaron killed
himself.



Aaron's supposed crime? He was accused of checking out too many articles
(4.8 million), too fast, from an online academic library called JTSOR, to
which he had authorized access. He never used or distributed the articles
and later returned them. * *For that, he was on trial and facing up to 35
years behind bars and endured two years of relentless persecution.



Right now, supporters of Aaron are calling for accountability for Aaron’s
prosecutors and for Congress to pass Aaron’s Law so this can never happen
again.* We’re holding a rally on April 13th to support the reform - will
you join us? **Click here <http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/boston_rally/>
** to RSVP, and **click here to use
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/events/585589498118269/>
** to invite your friends.*

 The law Aaron allegedly broke, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, is older
than he was – written in 1984, before any of us had personal computers or
internet faster than dialup.



It’s a law written so poorly that it can be used to go after almost anyone
because it makes violating terms of service a federal felony (You know that
long legalese document you never read but click “I agree” anyway?). That
means everyone *from a 12-year-old reading the New York Times to someone
lying about their weight in an online dating profile is committing a felony
– *and that’s not to mention unions that have been sued under the CFAA for
holding a call-in campaign to support a wrongfully fired worker.

*We live online, and it’s time that Congress and the White House change the
laws to reflect how times have changed.***

So we’re holding a rally in Dewey Square Park April 13th, when Aaron’s
trial should have ended. We’re calling on Congress to pass Aaron’s Law and
fix the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act so this can never happen again.

*DATE: Saturday, April 13th*

*TIME: 12 pm*

*PLACE: Dewey Square Park
(map<https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=dewey+square+park&fb=1&gl=us&hq=dewey+square+park&hnear=0x89e3a317a94b4bc7:0x37cecdc8d6ccff8b,Chelmsford,+MA&cid=0,0,303262352760168420&ei=jXtUUYbcFM-s0AH3koCAAg&ved=0CKkBEPwSMAM>
)*



We're going to meet at Dewey Square Park, and hear from Aaron's partner, *Taren
Stinebrickner-Kauffman,* Harvard Law Professor *Yochai Benkler**,* noted
author and attorney *Harvey Silverglate*, and others about the need to
reform the U.S. Attorney's Office and the CFAA.



Then we'll march to the Moakley Courthouse. Aaron should never have faced
indictment - let's reform the laws and structures that made caused this
injustice.



Will you join us? *Click here<http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/boston_rally/>
* to RSVP, and *click here to use
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/events/585589498118269/>
* to invite your friends.


-- 
*Evan Greer*
Campaign Manager
Fight for the Future
http://fightforthefuture.org <http://www.fightforthefuture.org>
Phone: +1 978.852.6457
Email: evan at fightforthefuture.org
Twitter: @fightfortheftr <http://www.twitter.com/fightfortheftr>
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