Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz commits suicide

[lebing]

https://rt.com/news/aaron-swartz-suicide-reddit-858/

 

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[Third Way]

After reading this last a few minutes ago, I wondered if this guy was on SSRI meds or something.  There ought to be better ways to get people that bottle up their emotions to seek help.

A swallow your pride pill so to speak.

I mean, how troubled was the guy that his only way out was a premature death, he should have been rich,m reddit.com sold for a lot of money if I remember correctly.

[repentance]

After reading this last a few minutes ago, I wondered if this guy was on SSRI meds or something.  There ought to be better ways to get people that bottle up their emotions to seek help.

A swallow your pride pill so to speak.

I mean, how troubled was the guy that his only way out was a premature death, he should have been rich,m reddit.com sold for a lot of money if I remember correctly.

He was looking at 35 years in a federal prison. SSRIs aren't going to make anyone believe that's something to look forward to.

[Third Way]

What exactly was he looking at 35 years in prison for? Wasn't what he did legal?

[repentance]

What exactly was he looking at 35 years in prison for? Wasn't what he did legal?

For this.  Trial was due to start next month.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/reddit-co-founder-charged-with-data-theft/

[iCEBREAKER]

Aaron Swartz memorial JSTOR torrent going up in 3,2,1...

[Third Way]

>In 2009 Mr. Swartz downloaded 19 million pages of federal court documents from a government database system, acting on the belief that they should be made available free.

Oh wow, I remember this now. What a dumbass.

You don't enter a server room where you know damn well you're not supposed to be in because "everything should be free,man ".


Yes, of course, if it where government documents. But not when it's privately funded research. Sometime it IS in the public's best interest to not know.


That's why not every country has the same technological advances.

Even to the point where Irrigation techniques themselves are industry/government secrets.

[repentance]

There are some very poignant posts from people who knew Aaron Swartz on MetaFilter.

http://www.metafilter.com/123777/Open-access-open-internet-closed-book

[vampire]

>In 2009 Mr. Swartz downloaded 19 million pages of federal court documents from a government database system, acting on the belief that they should be made available free.

Oh wow, I remember this now. What a dumbass.

You don't enter a server room where you know damn well you're not supposed to be in because "everything should be free,man ".


Yes, of course, if it where government documents. But not when it's privately funded research. Sometime it IS in the public's best interest to not know.


That's why not every country has the same technological advances.

Even to the point where Irrigation techniques themselves are industry/government secrets.

I believe the charges would be dropped, there was something else going on with Swartz.

[repentance]

I believe the charges would be dropped, there was something else going on with Swartz.

His struggle with depression was well documented - he blogged about it.

I'm curious why you believe that the charges would have been dropped so close to trial, though.

[vampire]

I believe the charges would be dropped, there was something else going on with Swartz.

His struggle with depression was well documented - he blogged about it.

I'm curious why you believe that the charges would have been dropped so close to trial, though.

There was a recent decision by 9th circle, that breaking ToS or "Acceptable Use" isn't criminal. Same page mentions:

“It is by no means clear that Swartz has actually violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Recently, the Fourth Circuit joined the Ninth Circuit in alleging that violating the terms of service does not constitute a crime under the CFAA. In contrast, the Fifth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits have held that it can be a crime. Swartz' case is in the First Circuit. This is the classic sort of Circuit Split that prompts Supreme Court review,” Kennerly said on his blog.

Also the website in question didn't want to press charges.

edit: I "never" was depressed. Its quiet said that very talented people take their own lives. I think I am hardwired not to be depressed, just figure out a way not to be depressed. Hitting gym, biking 100 miles a day help a lot to stay focused.

[darkmule]

JSTOR themselves declined to pursue charges against Swartz, and urged the FBI not to prosecute.  The FBI took an extremely vindictive approach to the case and wanted to destroy Swartz utterly, whether or not there was a victim harmed.

In fact, just three days ago, JSTOR did almost exactly what Swartz had wanted in the first place, and made vast amounts of its journal articles available for free to the public.

The Register & Read Program is their rollout of this idea.  It's not exactly what Swartz wanted, but it's certainly a good move and will make many more people aware of a lot of information that is out there. 

Especially in light of this, it was absolutely insane for the FBI to go after this so aggressively while real crimes go unpunished.  Yes, Swartz shouldn't have done this, and it broke the law.  But it was not 35 years in prison shit.  That was insane.  In light of the fact the "victim" basically asked them to drop it, it was overkill prosecution.  Whoever spent years and maybe millions of tax dollars prosecuting this bullshit should be out of a job.

Among Swartz's other accomplishments (including co-authoring RSS when he was 14) is RECAP, a program for people with access to the PACER archive of federal court documents, which if you have it installed, automatically uploads anything you download to the public archive, to make it freely available.

[Third Way]

it was absolutely insane for the FBI to go after this so aggressively while real crimes go unpunished.  Yes, Swartz shouldn't have done this, and it broke the law.  But it was not 35 years in prison shit.  That was insane.  In light of the fact the "victim" basically asked them to drop it, it was overkill prosecution.  Whoever spent years and maybe millions of tax dollars prosecuting this bullshit should be out of a job.

Symptoms of a sick, degenerate and out of control bureaucratic government.

[cbeast]

I recall back when a family member of mine had to appeal to a state supreme court over someone copying business information off a hard drive with the intent to profit of of the information. It wasn't even considered a crime back then.

I think Schwartz did the right thing in getting the files, but should only have secured them and not released them. Too many corporations and government agencies are shredding and erasing any documents that may be embarrassing. I would like to see these files stored in encrypted and decentralized storage with multi-signature and time-locked keys by anyone with access to them with suspicions about their chain of custody. Even better, would be to have all government documents signed publicly, stored encrypted and decentralized with custody balanced by separation of powers as intended by the US Constitution. No more of these secret email accounts and files.

edit: As the story unfolds, it seems that Schwartz did nothing illegal. This is a tragedy caused by bureaucratic opportunists profiting from abuse of power.

[Lethn]

The sad thing is I've seen articles where murderers and rapists get threatened with less jail time than that.

[myrkul]

The sad thing is I've seen articles where murderers and rapists get threatened with less jail time than that.

That might have had something to do with his unfortunate decision, do you think?

[Bombolo]

that's how he got caught
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261840/Surveillance-shot-ruined-tragic-Reddit-founder-Aaron-Swartzs-life-Moment-caught-breaking-MIT-archive-sting-left-facing-30-years-jail.html

seriously dude, when i steal stuff i prefer ski mask to goofy helmet

[grondilu]

The sad thing is I've seen articles where murderers and rapists get threatened with less jail time than that.

Amazingly enough, this might actually be true.

[Rob E]

So what was he actually stealing ( in detail ). I read it was " sensitive journals " What the fk does that mean . Was it " national security" where thousands set to die if released? Wt fuck was the punishment so harsh? Wt fuck did he do?

[vampire]

So what was he actually stealing ( in detail ). I read it was " sensitive journals " What the fk does that mean . Was it " national security" where thousands set to die if released? Wt fuck was the punishment so harsh? Wt fuck did he do?

Some journals that were published by a government website, that just made these journals available online to public. JSTOR (the gov website) told the investigators to drop charges.. but they didn't.