EDIT: Aaron Swartz’s father demands transparency

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has suffered a slew of technological harassments and threats since Internet activist and Reddit cofounder Aaron Swartz’s felony conviction and eventual suicide in early January — hackers have repeatedly tried to harm computer networks in his memory. According to The Boston Globe Wednesday, Swartz’s case has become a rally­ing point for Internet activists and civil libertarians who assert that prosecutors were unfair in bringing federal charges against him.

Swartz’ father has called on the university to ­release documents related to the federal case against his son so as to reduce the amount of harmful hacking going on in his son’s name. According to the Globe, he deplores hacking — which is understandable, since hacking is what led to his son’s charges and therefore, purportedly, his untimely death. MIT’s president has said that the university will provide internal documents in the federal case after personal and security infor­mation is removed.

It is important that the university does so. According to the Globe, MIT’s computer system has been hacked at least three times in recent weeks. In late February, it was falsely reported that there was a gunman on campus. These breaches in computer system and information safety are unhealthy for the university’s reputation and its students’ general well-being. Although said to be in Swartz’s honor, they should not continue. Swartz’s father does not want negative or disruptive activity on campus, according to the Globe — releasing the desired information will perhaps increase the safety of those involved with the case and the university at large.

Equally as important, MIT students deserve to know the details of the case against their classmate. While the university may wish to remain quiet about the case, there must be transparency between a university administration and the individuals who pay for their services — especially when this administration potentially contributed to one of its student’s decision to commit suicide. This being a direct breach in the safety of students on behalf of the people who claim to protect them, it is only fair that MIT listen to Swartz’s father and release the details of the case to the student population and beyond.

The distribution of such information, no matter how shameful for MIT, could also serve to prevent more tragedies such as Swartz’s in the future. Swartz was unfairly convicted with felony charges after his illegal attempt to hack into and distribute JSTOR content in a romantic attempt to increase academic freedom and mobility. Inasmuch it was said that he committed a breach in national security, he was not harmful or violent in his actions, and did not deserve his persecutory charges of 35 years in prison. The public deserves to know why he was charged so strongly.