Aaron Swartz was prosecuted for scraping, while Meta does it without consequence
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Aaron Swartz was prosecuted for scraping academic articles, while Meta scrapes books without consequence.
The author compares the legal treatment of Aaron Swartz, who downloaded 70 GB of JSTOR articles and faced 35 years in prison plus a $1 million fine, to Meta, which torrented 80 terabytes of books to train AI models. Swartz sought knowledge dissemination; Meta's use is for proprietary AI. The author expresses frustration at this perceived injustice.
Meta faces only a court case that will likely result in a financial slap on the wrist.
What commenters are saying
Commenters widely agree on the hypocrisy of selective enforcement. Key points: JSTOR didn't sue Swartz; the US government prosecuted him for a prosecutor's career gain. Several note that private prosecutions exist in Commonwealth countries, referencing the UK Post Office scandal where hundreds were wrongfully convicted and 13 died by suicide. One commenter argues the real issue is selective outrage about legal injustice, noting that similar mechanisms divide working classes.