The same hacking statute internet sensation Aaron Swartz was
being prosecuted under until his January suicide is quietly
being tested in a San Francisco federal courtroom — to little
fanfare in a case devoid of hacking in the traditional sense.
Hacking Trial Devoid of Hacking Awaits Jury Verdict  Photo:
Hades2k/Flickr   Swartz’s case and his untimely death set off a
firestorm across the internet to reform the hacking law known as
the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — a statute many suggested the
government was abusing. The Swartz prosecution prompted Attorney
General Eric Holder to enter the fray, saying it was a “good use
of prosecutorial discretion.”  But none of that drama associated
with the Swartz case and its aftermath is present in the San
Francisco courtroom of U.S. District Judge Edward Chen. It’s
where one of the most bizarre applications of the anti-hacking
law is playing itself out to a virtually empty gallery.
Beginning today, jurors will begin deliberating their first full
day in the two-week hac