SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

July 19, 2011 by Gary Price

Reddit Co-Founder and Political Activist Aaron Swartz Accused of Stealing 4.8 Million JSTOR Documents from MIT

July 19, 2011 by Gary Price

Updated: Aaron Swartz’s Blog and Twitter Stream Refers Users to a News Release from Demand Progress:

“Federal Government Indicts Former Demand Progress Executive Director For Downloading Too Many Journal Articles”

Update: News Release from JSTOR

Update: News Release from U.S. DOJ

Direct to the Full Text of the Indictment (via Scribd)

From The Guardian:

Aaron Swartz, the 24-year-old co-founder of the website Reddit, has been indicted on charges of stealing more than 4m documents from JSTOR, a paid-for archive of scientific journals and papers, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The charges were filed in Boston on Tuesday by an attorney for the district of Massachusetts, and carry a penalty of up to 35 years in prison and a $1m fine.

The prosecution alleges that Swartz broke into restricted areas of MIT starting on 24 September 2010 and continuing on and off until 6 January 2011, and downloaded “a major portion” of JSTOR’s archive. It claimed that his purpose was to distribute the archive through one or more file-sharing sites.

[Clip]

Swartz has been indicted on four counts, of wire fraud, computer fraud, criminal forfeiture and obtaining information from a protected computer.

Read the Complete Story

Additional Media
Reddit Co-Founder Charged With Data Theft (via NY Times)

See Also: Aaron Swartz Support Page (via Demand Progress)
See Also: General Facts (via JSTOR)
See Also: Worldwide Access Facts (via JSTOR)

Filed under: Data Files, Journal Articles, News, Patrons and Users

SHARE:

Aaron SwartzInfo IndustryJSTORLegalReddit

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

New IMLS Releases Research Brief: Access to Public Library Services and Materials During the First Nine Months of...

From IMLS: The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced today the release of a research brief on the public library response to community needs during the first 9 months ...

Video: Poet and Author Amanda Gorman Joins "CBS Mornings" For Her First Interview Since Her Poem And Book,...

From CBS News (via YouTube): Poet and author Amanda Gorman joins “CBS Mornings” for her first interview since her poem and book, “The Hill We Climb,” was restricted by a ...

GPO and NOAA Partner to Increase Permanent Public Access to NOAA Publications

From a Joint Announcement: U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Central Library is working to add more than 47,000 unique items ...

Scholarly Communication: "Why Nature Will Not Allow the Use of Generative AI in Images and Video"

From a Nature Editorial: Why are we disallowing the use of generative AI in visual content? Ultimately, it is a question of integrity. The process of publishing — as far ...

NSF Releases Public Access Plan 2.0; NISO Welcomes New Board Members; & More News Headlines

AI For Drug Discovery: Digital Science Fully Acquires OntoChem Congressional Research Service (CRS) Director Under Fire Resigning at Congress’ Research Arm (via BGov) EU Busy with AI Assessing Copyright in ...

New Data From Circana: "Soaring Sales of LGBTQ Fiction Defy Book Bans and Showcase Diversity in Storytelling"

From Circana: Sales of LGBTQ fiction in the U.S. reached an all-time high in the 12 months ending May 2023, according to Circana, formerly IRI and The NPD Group, increasing by ...

University of Maryland Libraries Acquires Ford’s Theatre Records

From the University of Maryland Libraries: The University of Maryland Libraries is excited to announce the acquisition of Ford’s Theatre records. The Ford’s Theatre records will be archived with Special ...

Are Public Computers In Libraries Becoming Obsolete?; Chicago Sun-Times Introduces a 'Right to Be Forgotten' Policy; & More...

AI Is Used Widely, but Lawmakers Have Set Few Rules (via Stateline) Are Public Computers in Libraries Becoming Obsolete? (via Government Technology) California Expands Partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library ...

World First: Researchers Create CO2 Measurement Tool to Calculate Emissions Caused by Stored Digital Data

From  Loughborough University (via Newswise): By 2025, it is estimated that the global data will surpass 180 zettabytes The amount of digital data is doubling every two years A typical ...

Canada: National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) Launches Its First-Ever Artificial Intelligence Narrated Audiobook

Here’s the Full Text of a NNELS Announcement: Have you noticed an increase in news lately about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? It is certainly a hot topic and something most of ...

Indiana School Librarians Worry New Law Banning 'Obscene' Books Will Harm Their Work and Students; Chicago Sun-Times Introduces...

Bloomsbury: Survival of Publishers Points to AI Prophecy Overkill (via FT, Subs Only) ||| Archived Version Indiana School Librarians Worry New Law Banning ‘Obscene’ Books Will Harm Their Work and ...

Journal Article: "Global Trends in Digital Preservation: Outsourcing Versus In-House Practices"

The article linked below was recently published by the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JOLIS). Title Global Trends in Digital Preservation: Outsourcing Versus In-House Practices Authors Rafiq AhmadBacha Khan ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Tweets by infoDOCKET

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2023 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.