(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the TECHNOLOGY REPORT in Special English.
Have you ever had an RSS news feed sent to your mobile phone or computer? If so, you have Aaron Swartz to thank. He helped develop that Internet publishing technology when he was only 14. He also helped develop what came to be known as the social news website Reddit.
Aaron Swartz
The 26-year-old Internet activist was found dead in his Brooklyn, New York apartment on January 11. His death was ruled a suicide.
Aaron Swartz believed that information is knowledge. He believed the Internet should be used to make that knowledge available to everyone. This belief is what eventually got him in trouble with the law.
He was to face a federal trial in April. He was accused of using computers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to download millions of scholarly documents from JSTOR. The online service charges fees to use its huge collection of research publications. Aaron Swarts could have faced 35 years in prison and as much as $1 million in fines. Some people have called the charges extreme.
Renee Hutchins is a law professor at the University of Maryland.
"It is questionable whether or not the prosecution in this case had a solid criminal case against Aaron Swartz. Basically what he is accused of doing is violating a user agreement with JSTOR."
Professor Hutchins says Mister Swartz had legal accounts with JSTOR and with MIT, through Harvard University.
"It is a really close question whether or not Aaron Swartz use of his Harvard account through the MIT network to JSTOR to download more than he should have legitimately was a criminal offense."
A Court of Appeals ruled that his actions violated user agreements and could be considered criminal.
However, Professor Hutchins notes that a more recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court disagreed.
"Unknowingly we may all be violating the terms of those agreements every single day, in multiple ways. And what the Ninth Circuit said is that's really not the business of federal criminal statue; that that's not what they were going for."
Aaron Swartz' family accused the United States Attorney's office of fighting a crime that had, in their words, "no victims." And they criticized MIT for refusing to "stand up for Aaron."
MIT has called for its own investigation of its involvement in the case.
More than 40,000 people have signed a petition at the White House website for citizen opinions. It calls for the District Attorney in the case to be removed from office. The District Attorney has said the office acted appropriately in its handling of the case.
词汇解释
1.prosecution n. 起诉，检举；进行；经营
They have the prosecution responsibility.
他们有起诉的责任。
2.unknowingly adv. 不知不觉地
Art often imitates nature unknowingly.
艺术经常会在不经意中模仿自然。
参考译文
美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
你曾在手机或电脑上用过RSS新闻提要吗？如果用过，那你要感谢艾伦·斯沃兹。他14岁时就帮助开发了这项网络发布技术，他还帮助开发了后来为我们熟知的社交新闻站点Reddit。
这位26岁的互联网活动人士1月11日被发现在纽约布鲁克林的公寓中死去，他被确定为自杀。
艾伦·斯沃兹认为信息就是知识，他认为互联网应该用来使每个人都获得这些知识，正是这样的信念让他触犯了法律。
他本来要在4月份接受联邦审判，他被控使用麻省理工学院的电脑从西文过刊全文库下载数百万份学术论文。该网站向用户收费，允许使用其海量收藏的研究文档。艾伦·斯沃兹可能要被判以35年监禁，以及100万美元的罚款。有人声称指控过于极端。
蕾妮·哈金斯是马里兰大学一名法律教授。
“这件案子对艾伦·斯沃兹的刑事指控是否确有其事还值得探讨，其实他的罪名只是违反了与西文过刊全文库的用户协议。”
哈金斯教授说艾伦·斯沃兹通过哈佛大学在JSTOR和麻省理工大学有着合法账户。
“至于艾伦·斯沃兹是否使用其哈佛的账号通过麻省理工网络进入JSTOR并下载不允许的文档，如果说这是刑事犯罪，那么就值得再探究了。”
上诉法庭判决斯沃兹的行为违反了用户协议，可以判定为刑事罪。
然而，哈金斯教授说，第九巡回上诉法庭最近的判决与此不一致。
“每天很多时候都我们可能会不知不觉地违反协议，第九巡回上诉法庭称这实在不应该是刑事罪。”
艾伦·斯沃兹的家人指控美国美国检察官办公室打击“根本不存在受害者”的犯罪，他们指责麻省理工拒绝“为艾伦伸张正义。”
麻省理工要求能就此案所涉及自己的部分进行独立调查。
四万多人在白宫网站的公民意见栏里签名请愿，他们呼吁此案的地方检察官辞职，而地方检察官曾表示法院处理此案很恰当。
