- Marcia Hoffman/EFF: “Over the past two years, Aaron was forced to devote much of his energy and resources to fighting a relentless and unjust felony prosecution brought by Justice Department attorneys in Massachusetts. His alleged crimes stemmed from using MIT’s computer network to download millions of academic articles from the online archive JSTOR, allegedly without “authorization.” For that, he faced 13 felony counts of hacking and wire fraud, which carried the possibility of decades in prison and crippling fines. His case would have gone to trial in April. The government should never have thrown the book at Aaron for accessing MIT’s network and downloading scholarly research. However, some extremely problematic elements of the law made it possible. We can trace some of those issues to the U.S. criminal justice system as an institution, and I suspect others will write about that in the coming days. But Aaron’s tragedy also shines a spotlight on a couple profound flaws of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in particular, and gives us an opportunity to think about how to address them.”
- Via Free Government Information: “Even before we learned of Aaron Swartz’s passing last Friday, several colleagues and I were in the midst of writing letters nominating Aaron for the ALA James Madison Award which was established by the ALA in 1986 to “honor individuals or groups who have championed, protected and promoted public access to government information and the publics right to know on the national level.” We write now to ask all of our readers to also submit letters in support. The deadline for letter submission is January 16, 2013, so get a move on! Send e-mail nominations to Jessica McGilvray, Assistant Director for the ALA Office of Government Relations, at [email protected]. Submissions can also be mailed to: James Madison Award / Eileen Cooke Award, American Library Association, Washington Office, 1615 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009-2520″
- Aaron Swartz, Aaron Swartz, Aaron Swartz
- How Aaron Swartz Fought For Government Transparency
- The Economist: Remembering Aaron Swartz – Commons man / “As Sir Tim put it, in fewer than 140 characters, “Aaron dead. World wanderers, we have lost a wise elder. Hackers for right, we are one down. Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep.” And the web wept.”
- UK Guardian – Aaron Swartz: cannon fodder in the war against internet freedom – “Governments are determined to control the internet, and if hackers like Swartz get in the way, they will be crushed.”
- Declan Mccullagh – Swartz didn’t face prison until feds took over case, report says: “The late Internet activist was facing a stern warning from local prosecutors. But then the U.S. Attorney’s office, run by Carmen Ortiz, chose to make an example of Aaron Swartz, a new report says.”
- Slate – How MIT Can Honor Aaron Swartz – Fight to make academic journals open to everyone.
- The inside story of Aaron Swartzs campaign to liberate court filings – And how his allies are trying to finish the job by tearing down a big paywall.
- Memorials for Aaron Swartz Turn to Discussion of How to Honor His Legacy
- MIT, JSTOR Filings Delay Release of Swartz FOIA Documents, July 25, 2013
- Losing Aaron – After his son was arrested for downloading files at MIT, Bob Swartz did everything in his power to save him. He couldn’t. Now he wants the institute to own up to its part in Aaron’s death. Boston Magazine, January 2014.
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Daily Archives: January 14, 2013
New GAO Reports – Veteran-Owned Small Businesses
Veteran-Owned Small Businesses – Planning and Data System for VA’s Verification Program Need Improvement, GAO-13-95, Jan 14, 2013 Continue Reading
Economic Growth and the Unemployment Rate
CRS – Economic Growth and the Unemployment Rate, Linda Levine, Specialist in Labor Economics, January 7, 2013 “A persistently high unemployment rate is of concern to Congress for a variety of reasons, including its negative consequences for the economic well-being of individuals and its impact on the federal budget. The unemployment rate was 9.5% when… Continue Reading
Joint Statement on Faculty Status of College and University Librarians
American Association of University Professors: Joint Statement on Faculty Status of College and University Librarians, January 11, 2013 “Librarians perform a multifaceted role within the academy. It includes not only teaching credit courses but also providing access to information, whether by individual and group instruction, selecting and purchasing resources, digitizing collections, or organizing information. In… Continue Reading
Estimating the Price Elasticity of Beer: Meta-Analysis of Data with Heterogeneity, Dependence, and Publication Bias
Via SSRN: Estimating the Price Elasticity of Beer: Meta-Analysis of Data with Heterogeneity, Dependence, and Publication Bias, Jon P. Nelson, Pennsylvania State University – College of the Liberal Arts – Department of Economics, January 14, 2013 “Precise estimates of price elasticities are important for alcohol tax policy. Using meta-analysis, this paper corrects average beer elasticities… Continue Reading
IMF – The Behavior of Currencies during Risk-off Episodes
The Behavior of Currencies during Risk-off Episodes, Reinout De Bock and Irineu de Carvalho Filho, January 2013 “Episodes of increased global risk aversion, also known as risk-off episodes, have become more frequent and severe since 2007. During these episodes, currency markets exhibit recurrent patterns, as the Japanese yen, Swiss franc, and U.S. dollar appreciate against… Continue Reading
Reserve Bank income and expense data and transfers to the Treasury for 2012
News release: ” The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced preliminary unaudited results indicating that the Reserve Banks provided for payments of approximately $88.9 billion of their estimated 2012 net income to the U.S. Treasury. Under the Board’s policy, the residual earnings of each Federal Reserve Bank are distributed to the U.S. Treasury, after providing… Continue Reading
Physician Practices: Background, Organization, and Market Consolidation
CRS – Physician Practices: Background, Organization, and Market Consolidation. Suzanne M. Kirchhoff, Analyst in Health Care Financing. January 2, 2013 “A growing number of U.S. physicians are combining their practices; affiliating with hospitals, insurance companies, and specialty management firms; or going to work directly for such organizations. The moves are part of a broader trend… Continue Reading
Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting
Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting, Bank for International Settlements, January 2013 “The financial crisis that began in 2007 revealed that many banks, including global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), were unable to aggregate risk exposures and identify concentrations fully, quickly and accurately. This meant that banks’ ability to take risk decisions in… Continue Reading
