&gt;but he did break the law<p>Those here are well enough in the know to realize that the law is often twisted to serve corrupt ends and thus any question of law breaking should also be met with a consideration of the morality and ethics of the law and of the enforcement of the law.<p>&gt;The prosecution was offering a meager 6 months in a low-security prison (for multiple felonies, that&#x27;s peanuts) for his crimes but he rejected the offer (source: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Aaron_Swartz#Arrest_and_prosec..." rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Aaron_Swartz#Arrest_and_prosec...</a>).<p>Or isomorphically, they were willing to add decades to his sentence for insisting to his right to a trial.<p>&gt;They were going to go extremely light on him but it was he who chose to fight.<p>How dare he exercise his rights!