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by coopdog 4895 days ago
Potentially. I think what got him is the argument that because he was authorised only in accordance with the terms of use, once he violated the terms of service he was now an unauthorised cracker (despite not actually cracking any system/software), and was going to go down under the CFAA.

I think the intent of the law is to remove the terms of use from determining whether or not the use is authorised. So since guests from any IP were authorised on MIT and JSTOR, despite the fact that he violated their terms of use, they then couldn't have hit him at all with the CFAA.
2 comments
tptacek 4895 days ago
The problem I'm bringing up is that Kerr and Granick have both pointed out that TOS violations weren't the only problem, or even the most severe problem, facing Swartz's defense. His attempts to evade filtering had the added misfortune of setting him up to "appear guilty" at trial.
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tedunangst 4895 days ago
Guests from any IP, except Aaron's IP. Until he got a new one. And then another.

Hypothetical Question: someone is accessing your network in an unauthorized way. How do you tell them? An IP is not a person, so how do you make your desire that they stop known? Block their IP? What if they come back with a new one?

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