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The David LaMacchia Case

Chronological Index

In April 1994, MIT junior David LaMacchia was indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, based on the accusation that he had modified an Athena workstation to allow people on the network to use it to download copyrighted software without paying. The case received national notoriety, the US Attorney in Boston calling it the largest incident of software piracy ever. In December 1994, the charges against LaMacchia were dismissed, with the judge ruling that copyright infringement can not be prosecuted under the wire fraud statute. The case raises important issues about liability of system operators and about the scope of computer crime and copyright laws.

Source documents

The Indictment
U.S. Attorney's April 7, 1994 press release
MIT Statement on the indictment, April 7, 1994.
Response of Defense Counsel, April 8, 1994
Issues Primer (from Defense Counsel), April 11, 1994
Motion to Dismiss (from Defense Counsel), September 30, 1994
Government's Opposition to Motion to Dismiss (from U.S. Attorney), October 24, 1994
Reply to Government's Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (from Defense Counsel), November 4, 1994
Memorandum of Decision and Order on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (from Stearns, D.J., allowing the Motion to Dismiss), December 28, 1994
MIT Statement on the Dismissal, December 29, 1994
Statement from Defense Counsel Concerning the Dismissal of the Indictment, December 29, 1994
Statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office on decision not to appeal Judge Stearns' ruling, January 27, 1995.
Statement from Defense Counsel on decision not to appeal, January 27, 1995.

News articles and reactions

Here are some of the news articles on the case, and some of the reactions on network newsgroups:

April 7, (Associated Press) Student Faces Software Charges
April 8, (Reuters) Computer Whiz Indicted
April 8, Jason Garner: "Govt. may use this to make sysops responsible"
April 9, David Sternlight: "The indictment is a model of clarity."
April 9, Jim Thomas: "The indictment strikes me as sloppy."
April 9, (The Tech) Student Indicted on Piracy Charges
April 10, Computer Case Raises Questions
April 10, "The Indictment is Nearly Pure Political Propaganda"
April 12, "MIT Covering its back"
April 12, Issues Primer is Legalistic B.S.
April 12, (The Tech) LaMacchia Will Be Arraigned Friday
April 12, (The Tech) Editorial- Software Piracy A Serious Crime
April 13, Harvey Silverglate: Letter to the Boston Globe
April 15, Mike Godwin: "Where's the fraud?"
April 15, (The Tech) Piracy Case May Set Precedent
April 22, (The Tech) LaMacchia Case Raises Legal Questions of Fraud
Aug. 30, (The Tech) Trial Dates Set in LaMacchia Case
Oct. 14, (The Tech) Lawyers File Pre-Trial Motion to Dismiss LaMacchia Case
Nov. 15, (The Tech) Gov't Opposes Motion to Dismiss LaMacchia Case
Nov. 22, (The Tech) Judge Considering LaMacchia Motion
Dec. 29, (Reuters) Judge Dismisses Indictment Against Mit Computer Whiz
Jan. 11, 1995 (The Tech) Judge Dismisses Case against LaMacchia
Jan. 11, 1995 (The Tech) Editorial- LaMacchia Case Raises Larger Questions
Feb. 1, 1995 (The Tech) Government Will Not Appeal Case
Feb. 7, 1995 (The Tech) David LaMacchia cleared; case raises civil liberties issues
Spring, 1995 (Time Magazine) Cops on the I-Way, by Mike Godwin

Lamacchia case documents are also available in the following groups

M.I.T. "The Tech" Student Newspaper Articles
Newsgroup Postings
Press Concerning the David LaMacchia Trial
Letter from Harvey A. Silverglate, LaMacchia's Attorney
Press Releases
Court Documents