113th Congress Introduced by Rep. Lofgren, Zoe

This group was made to remember Aaron Swartz.

113th Congress (2013-2014)

Sponsor: Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-19] (Introduced 06/20/2013)
Committees: House - Judiciary
Latest Action: 07/15/2013 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

Introduced in House (06/20/2013)

Aaron's Law Act of 2013 - Amends provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) prohibiting computer fraud to replace the phrase "exceeds authorized access" with "access without authorization," which is defined as obtaining information on a protected computer that the accesser lacks authorization to obtain by knowingly circumventing one or more technological or physical measures that are designed to exclude or prevent unauthorized individuals from obtaining that information.

Modifies CFAA penalty provisions to: (1) limit the imposition of enhanced penalties to subsequent offenses under such Act (currently, additional penalties are allowed if there is a conviction for another offense) and to criminal acts punishable under federal or state law by a term of imprisonment for more than one year; and (2) require the determination of the value of information for enhanced penalty purposes to be made by reference to fair market value.

Aaron Swartz hanged himself in his Crown Heights, Brooklyn apartment on January 11, 2013. Many people who think that it was because of facing 35 years in prison and 1 million dollars in fines.

Rep Zoe Lofgren Introduces Bipartisan Aaron's Law

In the wake of the prosecution and subsequent suicide of Aaron Swartz, lawmakers have proposed to amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Representative Zoe Lofgren has drafted a bill that would help "prevent what happened to Aaron from happening to other Internet users". Aaron's Law (H.R. 2454, S. 1196 ) would exclude terms of service violations from the 1984 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and from the wire fraud statute, despite the fact that Swartz was not prosecuted based on Terms of Service violations.

In addition to Lofgren, Representative Darrell Issa and Representative Jared Polis—all on the House Judiciary Committee, raised questions about the government's handling of the case. Polis called the charges "ridiculous and trumped up," while referring to Swartz as a "martyr." Issa, also chair of the House Oversight Committee, announced that he is investigating the actions of the Justice Department's prosecution.

As of May 2014, Aaron's Law was stalled in committee, reportedly due to tech company Oracle's financial interests.