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Officially request on behalf of citizens of the United States that Google REVERSE it's decision to shut down READER!
Yes we can!

Sign it: Now!

For the interested.

Remove United States District Attorney Carmen Ortiz from office for overreach in the case of Aaron Swartz
http://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

Remove Attorney General Eric Holder from office
http://wh.gov/GGrN

Would be nice to have in the summary.

You are right but telling your congressman to support FASTR (Fair Access to Science and Technology Research) is much more useful. You can do so quite easily thanks to the EFF and Alliance for Taxpayer Access. FASTR would make federally funded research (non classified and funded by a federal agency with a budget over 100 million$) freely available after 6 months of publication. This would go far beyond the disappointing recent White House OSTP policy where the embargo is 1 year and doesn't include any resuse rights.

If you live in Illinois or California, please consider supporting similar legislation for state funded research. See
Open Access to Research Articles Act for Illinois and California Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research Act.

As soon as I see one of those "public input" things being seriously discussed (and I don't mean a publicity "see, we are talking about it" stunt on C-SPAN) and not just laughed off in the cafeteria, we can start talking.

How about, actual policy directives in response to one, which goes beyond even "being seriously discussed".

The Democrats are using the excuse that unless they have a filibuster-proof majority, then they can't even think about passing a budget.

A recent judicial nomination, by two Republican senators, had been blocked and sat for 263 days, only to pass 93-0. While not technically a "filibuster", neither was the Hagel delay (wink, wink). We just also confirmed a judge after 300 days, and another guy's been waiting over 330.

When it comes to Senate filibusters, we are no longer playing with rational actors.

I hope everyone is signing the White House petitions to fire these 2 prosecutors for overreach in this case.

Petition for Carmen Ortiz: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

Petition for Steve Heymann: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-attorney-steve-heymann/RJKSY2nb

I know, I don't have a lot of faith in this petition system but, I'm hopeful that enough people will keep making noise on this one that some action will actually be taken. With this latest development that politics at least played a role in Aaron's persecution they should be jailed for bullying but we all know prosecutors don't go to jail so at least they should be fired and disgraced. Imagine if people don't make enough noise, nothing is done, and in 5 or 10 years these jerks are sitting on the bench as Federal Judges!

I hope everyone is signing the White House petitions to fire these 2 prosecutors for overreach in this case.

Petition for Carmen Ortiz: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

Petition for Steve Heymann: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-attorney-steve-heymann/RJKSY2nb

I know, I don't have a lot of faith in this petition system but, I'm hopeful that enough people will keep making noise on this one that some action will actually be taken. With this latest development that politics at least played a role in Aaron's persecution they should be jailed for bullying but we all know prosecutors don't go to jail so at least they should be fired and disgraced. Imagine if people don't make enough noise, nothing is done, and in 5 or 10 years these jerks are sitting on the bench as Federal Judges!

This letter says it all and to date the Administration, specifically the TSA has not addressed the concerns raised. The TSA unilaterally has conducted a large science experiment on the traveling public without the smallest amount of scientific scrutiny on the safety of the procedure. This again flies in the face of a "transparent administration" as promised by Obama.

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

These systems were rushed into use without any concern for safety of the operators and the people being scanned. Obviously the operators who are around these systems day in and day out are at the greatest risk but also the passengers, some like me who fly very frequently. I don't like going through the humiliation of the pat down but that's far better than getting another case of skin cancer.

Exactly what the President promised us in his memorandum titled "Transparency and Open Government ".

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment

Not that this is the first petition to ask to remove the postal office from the requirement of pre-paying 75 years of retiree benefits.

(For the record, I'm not a U.S. citizen and have not created or signed either petition.)

Yes:
Release the Postal Service from the draconian Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/release-postal-service-draconian-postal-accountability-and-enhancement-act-2006/Gz6MrsBy

There's a lot of things Hong Kong is doing as a city that we should be doing in NYC. The train barriers is another great idea currently not being implemented. I know it's a bit off topic, but the train deaths that received a bunch of media attention this past year is nothing compared to the actual amount of deaths. It was probably the most common fatal accident outside of bridge suicides on NYC police scanner twitter feeds.

At least we're good at government? (heh). Whitehouse.gov was asking for devs for a hackathon to the petitions API they're opening up. Although I didn't get an invite, I'd love to see what comes out of that.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/developers/hackathon

Pink firearms: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/require-all-civilian-firearms-be-painted-pink/YfFtRGVL

What a harebrained idea.

This will drastically increase the number of women and gays who own guns. Do you really want your girlfriend or gayfriend to have a loaded pink gun during their monthly PMS time?

This will also make dangerous guns look like attractive toys to children. Why in the world would anybody want that?

Finally, this will create a huge black market for non-pink guns. If the gov can't keep controlled substances from the streets, what makes you think they can keep non-pink guns from the streets?

I like these ones:

Organ donor opt-out: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pass-bill-change-united-states-organ-donation-system-be-opt-out-rather-opt/B04YdczT
Pink firearms: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/require-all-civilian-firearms-be-painted-pink/YfFtRGVL
webcams in congress: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/we-demand-surveillance-technology-congress-and-white-house/C3c6ZsgY

I like these ones:

Organ donor opt-out: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pass-bill-change-united-states-organ-donation-system-be-opt-out-rather-opt/B04YdczT
Pink firearms: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/require-all-civilian-firearms-be-painted-pink/YfFtRGVL
webcams in congress: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/we-demand-surveillance-technology-congress-and-white-house/C3c6ZsgY

I like these ones:

Organ donor opt-out: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pass-bill-change-united-states-organ-donation-system-be-opt-out-rather-opt/B04YdczT
Pink firearms: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/require-all-civilian-firearms-be-painted-pink/YfFtRGVL
webcams in congress: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/we-demand-surveillance-technology-congress-and-white-house/C3c6ZsgY

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/appoint-susan-crawford-fcc-chairman/73mtqt0q ,

Susan Crawford, law school professor and author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly in the New Guilded Age, says “Truly high-speed wired Internet access is as basic to innovation, economic growth, social communication, and the country’s competitiveness as electricity was a century ago, but a limited number of Americans have access to it, many can’t afford it, and the country has handed control of it over to Comcast and a few other companies.”

In a recent TV interview, she pointed out high speed access in Hong Kong costs a fraction of what it does in New York city, because the US providers don't enter each other's markets. She wants to change that.

http://billmoyers.com/segment/susan-crawford-on-why-u-s-internet-access-is-slow-costly-and-unfair/

Also, please sign the CISPA petition while you're up there: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-cispa-cyber-intelligence-sharing-and-protection-act/19sQhBpy

Are there any examples of a "We the people" petition actually doing anything even if successful?

We got the beer recipe. Hooray.

Unlocking allows a person to switch between networks.There may be many reasons for a user to change network like dissatisfaction with the network service,signal problem,tariff not affordable,etc. So long I unlocked my locked mobiles from a third party unlock services http://www.mobile-unlocker.com/ , now I am deprived of it. I have signed in https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7, to help in making the unlocking service legal by U.S

Only 1500 signatures needed before monday (probably monday early morning) for fire Steve Heymann white house petition See also Aaron's partner post for more details.

This probably won't get an answer but once the treshhold is reached, the petition will remain readable indefinitely on the white house website. This won't look good on his resume when it comes to be promoted. That's reason enough to sign.

Sign the petition against Steve Heymann, one of the psycho prosecutors. Only 1,700 more signatures are needed.

The White House should have a chance to respond before anarchy breaks loose.

I'm a little late to the game, but there is a Whitehouse petition I signed after learning about how X-Plane, a really great flight produced by an independent team, is being threatened legally by a patent troll.

this will very quickly become illegal.

In this case, public officials' salaries are already available BUT you can certainly try to find their past earnings.

If you're serious about making it a public issue, you have to at least contact your politicians.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ I think would be the best place to go.

People need to stop feeding the patent trolls. People should not pay trolls a dime. In fact, people should be counter suing trolls and get the DOJ involved in this to nail their filthy hides to the underside of the bridge as a warning to other would be patent trolls. Write your Congressional critters and sign this petition:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-patent-trolls-pay-all-costs-associated-their-frivolous-lawsuits-if-they-lose/gWPpVYMt

Seems like something worthy of another petition to the Whitehouse, like this one for cell phone unlocking

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7

Put some grass-roots web development and marketing work behind it, and you might get noticed.

it has taken how long for 50k signatures? closing in on 3 weeks to get 50k signatures for aaron schwartz https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

MIT has an intentionally open wifi setup, like everyone should.

We're having trouble with the fire Stephen Heymann petition, only like 10k signature out of the needed 25k.

What do people think we should do? Start a second more well written and informative petition perhaps?

The above statement is more or less true of all religions, but more so of extremists in the religion.

the tnt series with the ever stupendous mary mcdonnell "major crimes" uses this threat tactic to get guilty pleas. it is the other side of this argument. one wonders if this will be mentioned in discussions in the future. SIGN THE PETITION!!!! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

les mots juste! but in the meantime, we can ALL SIGN THE PETITION TO REMOVE THIS WHORE OF SATAN FROM POWER https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck REMEMBER: todays prosecutors are the desparate shysters that are dying to do anything and lie about whatever they have to so they can become tomorrows federal judges

have you signed the white house petition yet???? https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

There have been 0 executive orders made recently. The last executive order President Obama made was Executive Order #13635 on Dec 27th, 2012 and concerned federal employees' pay. Many news organization incorrectly reported that Obama signed 23 executive orders when in fact he did not. They have now changed their wording to say executive actions. At least one reporter, from Salon.com, admitted to incorrectly reporting this.

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/17/the_23_executive_orders_that_weren%E2%80%99t/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders/
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Category:Executive_orders_of_Barack_Obama

....faced with.

I have found that my tweets have been censored. Any tweet I make with a link do not make it into any hash thread included in the tweet.
It wasn't always like this as there was a time I could and I see people doing it today, so why are my tweets being censored?

Here is an example and the nature of my tweet that triggered off this censorship. Oddly enough even the White House petition site (where teh death star petition got near 35,000 signers) provides an option to share the petition link with both facebook and twitter, but its like a Neo and Agent Smith first meeting, what good is such an option if I cannot be seen?

I have wiped my twitter account because of the for what is teh point of being spied on if I cannot defend against?
The example link and nature of my tweets being censored is > http://wh.gov/EYbi #IRS #taxes #taxpayers

That Shortened link is provided by the White House petition site so for the long link https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-each-taxpayer-independent-voice-where-taxes-they-pay-are-be-allocated-and-used-all-tax/cxBlXQht?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

So as I said, twitter has more than just government spying issues.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/require-free-access-over-internet-scientific-journal-articles-arising-taxpayer-funded-research/wDX82FLQ

MIT has an intentionally open wifi setup, like everyone should.

We're having trouble with the fire Stephen Heymann petition, only like 10k signature out of the needed 25k.

What do people think we should do? Start a second more well written and informative petition perhaps?

Don't like it do something about it,

Only 67000 more people needed.

Just a reminder, anyone who feels Carmen Ortiz overreached here, please consider signing this petition ("A prosecutor who does not understand proportionality and who regularly uses the threat of unjust and overreaching charges to extort plea bargains from defendants regardless of their guilt is a danger to the life and liberty of anyone who might cross her path").

Instead of bitching about it, sign the petition before it's to late. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

They have, but they also raise the petition limit from 25K to 100K https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7#thank-you=p

Federal Prosecutor Oritz said Aaron's suicide won't change how she handles cases:
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/01/ortiz_says_suicide_will_not_change_handling_cases

And Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Heymann 'drove another hacker Jonathan James to suicide in 2008 after he named him in a cyber crime case':
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262831/Revealed-Aaron-Swartz-prosecutor-drove-hacker-suicide-2008-named-cyber-crime-case.html

Here are some other grubby cases Oritz has been involved in: http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/01/17/carmen-ortizs-sordid-rap-sheet/

Ortiz’s husband attacked the Swartz family on Twitter: "Truly incredible that in their own son's obit they blame others for his death and make no mention of the 6-month offer ... 6 months is not 35 years or lifetime" What an asshole.
http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/blogs/inside-the-hive/2013/01/15/attorney-carmen-ortiz-husband-attacks-swartz-family-twitter/vzxbY5lrrG7BvGjQGnNDtJ/blog.html
http://twitchy.com/2013/01/15/husband-of-mass-attorney-general-deletes-twitter-account-after-defending-prosecution-of-aaron-swartz/

There are "We the people" petitions to remove both Orirz and Heryman, but don't hold your breath. She is an Obama appointee and Heymann's father is a Clinton staffer. How about Someone in the press corps ask Obama what he thinks of his appointees killing off bright young kids?
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-attorney-steve-heymann/RJKSY2nb?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Civil liberties attorney Harvey Silverglate said of Aaron: "He was being made into a highly visible lesson, He was enhancing the careers of a group of career prosecutors and a very ambitious — politically-ambitious — U.S. attorney who loves to have her name in lights.” http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57564212-38/prosecutor-in-aaron-swartz-hacking-case-comes-under-fire/

The problem is Federal Prosecutors pick a career-building target and then shop for a crime. Big Criminals are too much work, but small fry like Aaron don't have the resources to fight back so all they have to do is bully them into taking a plea bargain and then bask in the glory. It's been going on for a long time and many people have been swallowed up, but the media usually never reports it:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Tu5RB6YHf10C&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=51Ya4U8XFt&dq=lynch+in+the+name+of+justice (Go to page 43 of this Google Books preview).

Federal Prosecutor Oritz said Aaron's suicide won't change how she handles cases:
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/01/ortiz_says_suicide_will_not_change_handling_cases

And Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Heymann 'drove another hacker Jonathan James to suicide in 2008 after he named him in a cyber crime case':
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262831/Revealed-Aaron-Swartz-prosecutor-drove-hacker-suicide-2008-named-cyber-crime-case.html

Here are some other grubby cases Oritz has been involved in: http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/01/17/carmen-ortizs-sordid-rap-sheet/

Ortiz’s husband attacked the Swartz family on Twitter: "Truly incredible that in their own son's obit they blame others for his death and make no mention of the 6-month offer ... 6 months is not 35 years or lifetime" What an asshole.
http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/blogs/inside-the-hive/2013/01/15/attorney-carmen-ortiz-husband-attacks-swartz-family-twitter/vzxbY5lrrG7BvGjQGnNDtJ/blog.html
http://twitchy.com/2013/01/15/husband-of-mass-attorney-general-deletes-twitter-account-after-defending-prosecution-of-aaron-swartz/

There are "We the people" petitions to remove both Orirz and Heryman, but don't hold your breath. She is an Obama appointee and Heymann's father is a Clinton staffer. How about Someone in the press corps ask Obama what he thinks of his appointees killing off bright young kids?
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-attorney-steve-heymann/RJKSY2nb?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Civil liberties attorney Harvey Silverglate said of Aaron: "He was being made into a highly visible lesson, He was enhancing the careers of a group of career prosecutors and a very ambitious — politically-ambitious — U.S. attorney who loves to have her name in lights.” http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57564212-38/prosecutor-in-aaron-swartz-hacking-case-comes-under-fire/

The problem is Federal Prosecutors pick a career-building target and then shop for a crime. Big Criminals are too much work, but small fry like Aaron don't have the resources to fight back so all they have to do is bully them into taking a plea bargain and then bask in the glory. It's been going on for a long time and many people have been swallowed up, but the media usually never reports it:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Tu5RB6YHf10C&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=51Ya4U8XFt&dq=lynch+in+the+name+of+justice (Go to page 43 of this Google Books preview).

Even little things count can, though of course if you want to do something more high profile, that's up to you.

In addition to calling in Ortiz, there is a petition to Fire Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Heymann. The petitions by themselves might not do much but they do keep the ball rolling. What was done to Swartz has been and is done to many others.

"Mr. Caswell’s family-owned and -operated property was worth approximately $1.5 million with no mortgage—making it a perfect target. Without a bank involved, the likelihood of the Caswells’ mounting a drawn-out legal defense was miniscule. For Carmen Ortiz, Russ Caswell was like the weakest kid on the block who was wearing something she, or the agencies her office represents, coveted. Ms. Ortiz’s fervency seems to have stemmed from the publicity such cases were sure to generate. All the defendants insisted on their innocence and fought the charges. The jury’s still out on O’Brien and Caswell, but Swartz and Mehanna have paid the price for their defiance."
http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/01/17/carmen-ortizs-sordid-rap-sheet/

There is a petition to remove her, but don't hold your breath. She is an Obama appointee and her Heymann's dad worked for Clinton.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Ortiz

Sign the petition!

I did worse.

Apologies for reposting this, but we really need the 25k signatures on the fire Stephen Heymann petition :

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-attorney-steve-heymann/RJKSY2nb

Please spam your friends! :P

It's a poorly written petition. And nobody who sees only the petition understands that Heymann also drove another probably innocent young hacker to his death, way back when Heymann wanted to be the first ro prosecute a juvenile under the CFAA.

Anyway this prosecutor seems particularly evil.