Feds charge open data activist with 13 felonies for downloading academic articles

Wired reports that Federal prosectors have added nine additional felony counts against coder, freedom of information activist, and early Reddit employee (or Reddit co-founder, depending on who you ask) Aaron Swartz. Last year, he was charged with breaking hacking laws "by downloading millions of academic articles from a subscription database via an open connection at MIT." Pay attention to this case. The outcome could set precedents that increase legal hazards for security researchers, activists, and online journalists who operate with perfectly good and lawful intentions.