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MIT Attempts To Block Release of Documents In Aaron Swartz Case

Posted by Soulskill on from the actions-speak-louder-than-words dept.

Dputiger writes "In the wake of activist Aaron Swartz's suicide, MIT launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to his initial arrest and felony charges. It's now clear that the move was nothing but a face-saving gesture. Moments before the court-ordered release of Swartz's Secret Service file under the Freedom of Information Act, MIT intervened, asking the judge to block the release. Supposedly this is to protect the identities of MIT staff who might be harassed — but government policy is to redact such information already."

4 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I would have expected better from MIT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The Boston.com article says that MIT's side of things is that they don't want the files blocked, just redacted.

    Nate Nickerson, associate vice president for communications at MIT, said that the university was not trying to block release, simply trying to ensure the safety of MIT employees and security of university networks was protected, particularly after a hoax gunman report in February was linked to Swartz’s death.

    “The basic idea is we want to do this quickly, and have a process where we can take a look and propose redactions based on those two characteristics [employee safety and network security],”

    It does express surprise that they've waited until so late in the process to do this though, especially when details like names are usually removed anyway. It is odd.

  2. Re:Release of documents by AHuxley · · Score: 2, Informative

    A few have done reverse FOIA:
    http://www.annarbor.com/vielmetti/foia-friday-reverse-foia/
    eg confidential commercial information vs defective parts
    employment records
    individual's privacy

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  3. Re:Sorry internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just shut the fuck up about this case already. The defence proved that Martin ambushed Zimmerman to punish him. Both people made mistakes but Martins proved fatal. If Martin was smart he would have just kept going and made it home safely. But he chose to confront Zimmerman. Stupid.

  4. Re:Who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    So .. breaking and entering will get you, what? 4 months?

    Take a moment to go through the list of charges and tally them up until you hit 35 years and ask yourself if justice was being served. The punishment should fit the crime and, when it doesn't, we need to revisit our laws and sentencing guidelines.

    And no need to call anyone an idiot -- this is one of those issues that divides people and when they feel passionate they respond passionately. There's room for passion in debates like these because it's a powerful motivator and a catalyst for discussion. But let's not forget that the discussion is the important part.