There's not always so much of a difference between those two things. If he did the things he was accused of doing that is a felony. There's little doubt that he did those things (the downloading and such) so he, in all likelihood, did commit a felony. Let's not focus too much on technicalities and semantics.
If you are accused of being a child molester, does it mean that we should all consider you guilty? But we should not quibble about such technicalities as you so blithely claim.
"Innocent until proven guilty". That's how the law works (and should)
If I had openly admitted the facts and several reliable parties had corroborated them? Feel free to call me a child molester before my conviction in that case. Don't throw me in jail before proving it, of course, but you needn't qualify every single thing you say with "alleged."
If the facts aren't pretty well established, then of course it is wise to be more judicious.
No one is denying that he did download those documents. What is mostly likely getting you downvoted is your assumption that his acts are felonies and that he would have been found guilty. That is debatable and why it would require a trial. That's why I would suggest not labeling someone a felon when no jury has had a chance to decide.
> your assumption that his acts are felonies and that he would have been found guilty
I understand that that is debatable. I don't view these things as foregone conclusions, only as highly likely outcomes. I'm not aware of any serious observers of the case who disagree, but if they exist it would be helpful to know about them.
No I disagree with your statement entirely. He was trying to download scientific and court documents that were paid for with taxpayer money that are supposed to be FREE to the public. The controlled distribution of these free documents to private companies is a scam by the US government to generate revenues for friends of the government. Yes the government was going to win their case because Aaron had to break the law in order to try and make these documents available. However, what he could have done, was brought action against the government and continued to violate the law in order to bring attention to it. But he was too young and too scared by the weight of the prosecutorial charges. They weren't going to get 30 years agains the poor kid for trying to right a government wrong. They were going to get house arrest and probation. Aaron should have stuck in there but having been falsely acused of a federal crime once in my life I know that the desire to commit suicide is strong.
