DA's Hubby Tweet-Bashes Swartz Family

While a state rep pens law to lower penalties for terms of service violations
By Liam Carnahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2013 7:25 AM CST
DA's Hubby Tweet-Bashes Swartz Family
This photo shows Aaron Swartz, a co-founder of Reddit, who hanged himself Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, in New York City.   (AP Photo/ThoughtWorks, Pernille Ironside)

Just three days after Internet prodigy Aaron Swartz committed suicide, the husband of a prosecutor who had sought to put the hacktivist behind bars slammed the deceased's family on Twitter, reports the Guardian. "Truly incredible that in their own son's obit they blame others for his death and make no mention of the 6 month offer," tweeter Tom Dolan, an IBM exec and husband to prosecutor Carmen Ortiz. It didn't take long for Swartz's supporters to cry foul, and Dolan's account has since been deleted. Dolan, who was likely referencing a tentative plea deal, probably wasn't too happy about a petition sent to the White House calling for his wife's removal from office for her role in the Swartz case.

Meanwhile, California state Rep. Zoe Lofgren took to Reddit—which Swartz helped create—to announce a new law she penned to "prevent a repeat of the abuses of power" Swartz experienced. She cites the vague wording of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the wire fraud statute as leading to the overzealous prosecution of Swartz, and wants to see certain terms of service violations removed from the laws' "broad scope." Some 12 hours after it went up last night, Lofgren's post has received almost 600 upvotes from the site's users. (More Aaron Swartz stories.)

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