Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

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Stuart
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Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

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Aaron Swartz, who was arrested in 2011 and charged with stealing millions of scientific journal articles from a computer archive at MIT, is dead at 26.

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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by Tribble »

Stuart wrote:
Aaron Swartz, who was arrested in 2011 and charged with stealing millions of scientific journal articles from a computer archive at MIT, is dead at 26.

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Ah mousey - where would you like us to read it? There are no linkys here
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by hamin_aus »

If I helped created Reddit I'd an hero too.

What an awful place.
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by rustypup »

"CLINICALLY DEPRESSED PERSON COMMITS SUICIDE! But first, THE SEA IS WET! And DOGS CAN BARK!"

there's something very romero about this story...

the reddit mention doesn't help, no... quite the opposite...
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by StarBound »

I hear the word reddit but is has nothing to do with registry editor so I had no interest.
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by Ron2K »

For what it's worth, Aaron Swartz co-authored version 1.0 of the RSS specification at the age of 14.

Personally, I consider this a more notable achievement than his involvement with reddit.
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by Tribble »

Anyone know why he ended his life?
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

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Tribble wrote:Anyone know why he ended his life?
Official statement from his family may have something to say about that . . .
rememberaaronsw.com wrote:Official statement from family and partner of Aaron Swartz

Our beloved brother, son, friend, and partner Aaron Swartz hanged himself on Friday in his Brooklyn apartment. We are in shock, and have not yet come to terms with his passing.

Aaron’s insatiable curiosity, creativity, and brilliance; his reflexive empathy and capacity for selfless, boundless love; his refusal to accept injustice as inevitable—these gifts made the world, and our lives, far brighter. We’re grateful for our time with him, to those who loved him and stood with him, and to all of those who continue his work for a better world.

Aaron’s commitment to social justice was profound, and defined his life. He was instrumental to the defeat of an Internet censorship bill; he fought for a more democratic, open, and accountable political system; and he helped to create, build, and preserve a dizzying range of scholarly projects that extended the scope and accessibility of human knowledge. He used his prodigious skills as a programmer and technologist not to enrich himself but to make the Internet and the world a fairer, better place. His deeply humane writing touched minds and hearts across generations and continents. He earned the friendship of thousands and the respect and support of millions more.

Aaron’s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office and at MIT contributed to his death. The US Attorney’s office pursued an exceptionally harsh array of charges, carrying potentially over 30 years in prison, to punish an alleged crime that had no victims. Meanwhile, unlike JSTOR, MIT refused to stand up for Aaron and its own community’s most cherished principles.

Today, we grieve for the extraordinary and irreplaceable man that we have lost.
I don't know if that's just ranting or the product of some familial insight, but there you have it.
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Re: Reddit cofounder, Aaron Swartz, commits suicide

Post by Tribble »

Thank you - I had not seen that one
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