[danso]

Please realize that Kerr is tackling one issue at a time, in fact, I think he is promising a second post.

This first post is to show how the charges fit the existing law...This is to tackle the first question of, Is what Aaron Swartz did illegal?

This is a wholly different question than whether the prosecution was justified in its aggression, which will be the topic of his second post.

But whether something was illegal or not, yes, generally, we want that question to be based on existing laws. You do not want to go to court, either as a defender or prosecutor, on the grounds that your case will be decided on what's made up during trial.

---

Someone noted that many HN readers are programmers and seem to have problems with seeing the world as too black and white...I'm surprised at how hard it is for professionals whose work is heavily governed by the concept of orthogonality not being able to understand why people like Kerr can dissect this controversy into two separate components. Both components, related as they are, are worth considering and involve different arguments and evidence.