Do you think MIT doing something would've made a difference?
Also I think had MIT asked the prosecutor not to prosecute then the case would have been dropped. Without MIT and JSTOR saying Swartz committed computer fraud, the prosecution would have no case. Etc etc.
The case existed because MIT wanted it to exist.
Why not? He did that.
> Not charging him for cfaa charges.
MIT didn't do that. The federal prosecutor did.
> Not treating like a laptop plugged in is a felony.
MIT didn't do that either.
> I think had MIT asked the prosecutor not to prosecute then the case would have been dropped
I don't know what you're basing this on. Everything the prosecutor said at the time made it clear that they wanted to make an example of Swartz and would have done much the same thing no matter what MIT and JSTOR said.
> Without MIT and JSTOR saying Swartz committed computer fraud
Neither MIT nor JSTOR ever said that. Charging Swartz under the CFAA was the federal prosecutor's doing.
> The case existed because MIT wanted it to exist.
I think you are mistaken. I think the case existed because the federal prosecutor wanted it to exist. That's not to say MIT made no mistakes, but we should put the blame for the CFAA prosecution and the threat of decades in jail where it belongs.