I have read, because of his Harvard affiliation, he could have downloaded them through Harvard for no fee.
The man was not downloading information for profit. He has contributed more in his short life than most of us.
Murderers and rapists walk free in a few years. He was pursued and threatened for decades in prison by a politically ambitious AG .
“He has contributed more in his short life than most of us.”
Well I guess that justifies anything else he might have done. Several people have mentioned this moral-relativity defense.
I do think his prosecution was over the top. As I mentioned above the Amerithrax cases, and the Richard Jewell case and many others show that the feds have rigged the system. For instance the defense cannot, in a Federal trial, bring up anything that the Federal prosecution has not brought up, which includes exculpatory evidence.
An aquaintance went through delay after delay on a felony case which everyone knew was totally a lie and the guy was innocent but the state ruined his life and his family’s lives. They put the guy through hell and were helped by the lies of the local media. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and committed suicide. Of course, the media used his booking photo to triumphfully announce his death when he’d spent all of 3 hours behind bars during the initial arrest a year before. It’s all a game to these people.