Nicco Mele appeared on the radio program Here & Now to discuss the arrest of Aaron Swartz for hacking into an MIT computer and downloading four million academic documents from the subscription archive JSTOR.

Mele said "we have a serious issue when any 14 year old with a $500 laptop can hack into central command," but there's a big difference between dangerous, malicious hacking and Swartz's "act of civil disobedience."

"In some sense Aaron is a casualty of the growing conflict between the institutions of our era running up against the realities of digital life."

To hear the interview in its entirety go to http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/08/04/governments-hackers-crackdown