Aaron
© Common Dreams Org
Despite its earlier vow to act in "a spirit of openness," the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has intervened in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) court case brought by Wired reporter Kevin Paulsen aimed at releasing Aaron Swartz's Secret Service file. Paulsen has blasted MIT's move to block the release, which they justified by citing the need to protect MIT personnel even though records are routinely redacted, as unprecedented, noting neither he nor his lawyer has ever seen a non-governmental party argue for the right to interfere in a FOIA release of government documents.
"The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century...The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges."