Disruptions: A Fuzzy and Shifting Line Between Hacker and Criminal

“Forty years ago, a hacker was someone who took great joy in knowing everything about computers,” said Susan P. Crawford, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. “The word was really used in admiration. Now it is used to describe and condemn both professional cyberattackers and amateurs who are swept together within the broad description of the word.”

The cases of Daniel Spitler and Aaron Swartz are examples of the justice system’s misunderstanding of what a hacker actually is. To many people who understand computers and the law, there is a danger in lumping people who have not sought financial gain with armed robbers. Where people should receive slaps on the wrist, they face decades in prison.