I agree with your last paragraph. However, I disagree that aaronsw "sullied" his actions with illegal activities. I think he did damn near everything right.
Also, having a sufficiently "legitimate political cause" is a just and legitimate reason for action. For example, revealing criminal activity on the part of the government is a legitimate reason to violate classification laws.
The difference is that they obeyed the law as much as possible, it wasn't simply an anti-authority movement (as they would need the authority of the state after the laws they wanted were passed!).
E.g. when MLK Jr. was arrested in Birmingham for marching without a permit, it wasn't because he just up and marched. He tried to get a permit like a good citizen, and it was denied. And even there he could easily argue he was taking advantage of his First Amendment right and not really breaking the law (as the way that law had been applied would be obviously Unconstitutional). But I know of no Constitutional or common law that would allow people to hack into computer systems, copy out other people's private emails, or steal credit card numbers.
On that note, I guess privacy is only important when it's people we like, eh?
Also, having a sufficiently "legitimate political cause" is a just and legitimate reason for action. For example, revealing criminal activity on the part of the government is a legitimate reason to violate classification laws.