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Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz commits suicide

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jan 2013 7:04 User comments (19)

Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz commits suicide

R.I.P Aaron Swartz.
Swartz, the celebrated Internet activist took his own life earlier today. He was 26.

The programmer was also one of the original developers of Reddit and authored the RSS specification when he was just 14 years old.

Swartz was set to begin a federal trial next month over charges of computer fraud, for which he had plead not guilty. The charges related to 5 million academic papers that Swartz allegedly downloaded from the academic online archive JSTOR, which costs money to access if you are not affiliated with a college/University. Prosecutors claimed he intended to share the files, for free, online after having stole them through illegal access on M.I.T's campus.

The programmer was facing 35 years in prison, and a $1 million fine if convicted.

Last year, Swartz also co-founded Demand Progress, a group to promote social justice issues online. The group helped take down last year's SOPA and PIPA Internet censorship bills.

Tags: Reddit aaron swartz rss deceased
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19 user comments

112.1.2013 21:09
ZippyDSM
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AfterDawn Addict

A shame. Information/media needs to be free to attain, sure you can capitalize the process but not stop anyone from attaining it just due to finical concerns. Down with copy right!(least today's fascist version of it)


On a lighter note. Its a good thing the voices in my head don't like suicide, they want to live!!!11

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Jan 2013 @ 9:12

212.1.2013 21:47
Justoneguy
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Makes you wonder what the federal government was so worried about. He hadn't uploaded the files, a lot more investigation needs to be done on this apparent "suicide."
R.I.P. Aaron, it's tragic for anyone so young and talented to be taken so early in their life.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Jan 2013 @ 11:20

313.1.2013 03:16
Bigwillyz
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Yeah ""Suicide"" is more like it, people that have a following or pull against any government affiliate always seem to disappear or "die" . That's a fact, had a distant relative in investagative reporting commit "suicide"

413.1.2013 04:25
xboxdvl2
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he may have comitted suicide.the government could of easily made his death look like suicide aswell.

513.1.2013 11:50
PraisesToAllah
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Maybe it was suicide. The pressure got to him. What's the worst possible thing that could have happened in that trial? 35 years + $1 Million fine? Maybe that was his reason.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 13 Jan 2013 @ 11:51

613.1.2013 13:16
xboxdvl2
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i just did some google searching and no where does it give any details to how he died.all i seem to find is posts saying he suicided and was found dead in his apartment.

713.1.2013 16:12
Justoneguy
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Originally posted by xboxdvl2:
 i just did some google searching and no where does it give any details to how he died.all i seem to find is posts saying he suicided and was found dead in his apartment.
From what I've read he hanged himself.

813.1.2013 17:02
Mrguss
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Swartz's suicide came 2 days after JSTOR announced it is releasing "more than 4.5M articles" to the public.
http://www.zdnet.com/hacker-activist-aa...ide-7000009725/
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/01/ac...free-to-public/

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 13 Jan 2013 @ 5:03

913.1.2013 17:19
Bigwillyz
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Originally posted by xboxdvl2:
 he may have comitted suicide.the government could of easily made his death look like suicide aswell.
That"s exactly what I was hinting at

1013.1.2013 20:22
Justoneguy
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Originally posted by PraisesToAllah:
 Maybe it was suicide. The pressure got to him. What's the worst possible thing that could have happened in that trial? 35 years + $1 Million fine? Maybe that was his reason.
Too bad we can't hold our "politicians" and "Bankers" more accountable for their crimes. Murderers and Rapists aren't pursued with the kind of fervor our government pursued this kid with. Again I ask, what were they so afraid of?
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 13 Jan 2013 @ 8:24

1114.1.2013 16:19
Notcow
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"six bullet wounds in the back, worst case of suicide I've ever seen."

1214.1.2013 17:51
Mrguss
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We want #JusticeForAaronSwartz because >>>> Sometimes Suicide is Murder.
After the Criminal Govt. of U.S. bullying (Persecution for 2 yrs.) Aaron Swartz to death, finally drops charges against him:
http://rt.com/usa/news/swartz-suicide-court-drops-charges-997/

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 14 Jan 2013 @ 6:16

1316.1.2013 18:45
dodger5
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Junior Member

Originally posted by Mrguss:
 We want #JusticeForAaronSwartz because >>>> Sometimes Suicide is Murder.
After the Criminal Govt. of U.S. bullying (Persecution for 2 yrs.) Aaron Swartz to death, finally drops charges against him:
http://rt.com/usa/news/swartz-suicide-court-drops-charges-997/
I'm with you, perhaps he was just tired of dealing with A**holes. A very sad thing to see something like this happen to anyone, especially as talented as this kid was.

1417.1.2013 16:58
Mrguss
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Originally posted by dodger5:
Originally posted by Mrguss:
 We want #JusticeForAaronSwartz because >>>> Sometimes Suicide is Murder.
After the Criminal Govt. of U.S. bullying (Persecution for 2 yrs.) Aaron Swartz to death, finally drops charges against him:
http://rt.com/usa/news/swartz-suicide-court-drops-charges-997/
I'm with you, perhaps he was just tired of dealing with A**holes. A very sad thing to see something like this happen to anyone, especially as talented as this kid was.
Aaron Swartz Prosecutor (Carmen M.Ortiz) linked to another Hacker's Suicide:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock...ther-h?s=mobile …

Petition to remove U.S. DOJ Attorney Carmen Ortiz over-reach the 25K. for the U.S. Govt. to give an answer to "WE THE PEOPLE"
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti...mpaign=shorturl …

...BUT What the MF Govt. of U.S. did in stead:
White House raises petition signature threshold from 25K to 100K
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-575642...eshold-to-100k/

WELCOME TO AMERICA!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Jan 2013 @ 5:51

1517.1.2013 18:54
DVDBack23
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Staff Member

Originally posted by Mrguss:
 ...BUT What the MF Govt. of U.S. did in stead:
White House raises petition signature threshold from 25K to 100K
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-575642...eshold-to-100k/

WELCOME TO AMERICA!
This is a good move. It keeps the nuts in check. 25k signatures is not hard to get.


1618.1.2013 07:51
robertmro
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Are the prosecutors happy now?

1718.1.2013 09:03
fdcx
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Newbie

Copyright (and patent) protections are an absolute necessity if innovation is to be appropriately rewarded. The period of the protection must be long enough to appropriately reward the originator, but only that long. (I am excluding trademarks from this discussion.)
Having said that,there has been abuse of the process, particularly by "Hollywood" interests (with their tremendous political influence). I understand that recent modifications of these laws have extended some protections up to 75 years (if I am incorrect, please so advise). This practice does not serve the public well (or even the original innovators).
I do look forward to prosecution of gross violators of reasonable copyright protections, truly they are thieves.

1818.1.2013 16:46
Mrguss
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Senior Member

.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 20 Jan 2013 @ 5:24

1920.1.2013 17:23
Mrguss
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Originally posted by DVDBack23:
Originally posted by Mrguss:
 ...BUT What the MF Govt. of U.S. did in stead:
White House raises petition signature threshold from 25K to 100K
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-575642...eshold-to-100k/

WELCOME TO AMERICA!
This is a good move. It keeps the nuts in check. 25k signatures is not hard to get.
This is the voice of the "Nuts".... so the citizens of USA: WAKE THE F-UP! [Video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p...d&v=y6WFDdtrNBI
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 20 Jan 2013 @ 5:26

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