“Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City yesterday, Jan. 11, according to his uncle, Michael Wolf, in a comment to The Tech. Swartz was 26.” Swartz was one of three co-creators of Reddit, worked on the RSS 1.0 specification at age 14, and so many other things. Swartz faced decades in prison for downloading a collection of JSTOR scientific articles. JSTOR dropped charges, but the US government pursued the case anyway, demanding fifty years in jail. Lawrence Lessig, one of his close friends: “Aaron had literally done nothing in his life ‘to make money’. He was fortunate Reddit turned out as it did, but from his work building the RSS standard, to his work architecting Creative Commons, to his work liberating public records, to his work building a free public library, to his work supporting Change Congress/FixCongressFirst/Rootstrikers, and then Demand Progress, Aaron was always and only working for (at least his conception of) the public good. He was brilliant, and funny. A kid genius. A soul, a conscience, the source of a question I have asked myself a million times: What would Aaron think? That person is gone today, driven to the edge by what a decent society would only call bullying. I get wrong. But I also get proportionality. And if you don’t get both, you don’t deserve to have the power of the United States government behind you.” Our sincere condolences to his family and friends. We’ve just lost one of the good guys.
This makes my blood boil.
It also doesn’t help any that apparently the prosecutor was harassing him just before he killed himself http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/13/139218/us-attorney-chided-sw…
The more that I learn about this story the more pissed I’m getting.
I’m not a US citizen so may be mistaken…
Isn’t the fact that 90% of criminal cases are decided by plea bargaining in the US a sign that prosecutors have too much power? Throw the kitchen sink at the defendant, scare them witless and therefore avoid a trial?
US Citizen here. It’s bullshit. The worst part is that with the absurd power employers have over employees, if you take time off of work to deal with your case, you probably lose your job, so that’s even more pressure to settle.
Fuck the US government.
Without knowing him its hard to know what inner demons drove him to such an extreme act. My condolences to his family and friends. I lost a good friend to suicide. In the end all you are left with is questions and sorrow. Its such a loss of potential.
Edited 2013-01-12 22:17 UTC
I never even heard of him, but…
Is 50 years of imprisonment not worthy of just saying “f*** life?” He would either die in prison, or be released mentally f**ked with nothing much to live for in his few remaining years. There are no inner demons here… just a corrupt, highly demonizing country. If there are demons, they’re outside–running the government.
Seems like a perfectly fitting reaction to such a f**ked up judgment to me. Justice system, my ass. That’s the reality of this country… and I know countless people who defend it, saying something along the lines of, “well if you don’t do anything wrong…” People love to neatly sidestep the issues that of what is really right or wrong vs. what is just legally wrong, and never put two seconds into questioning whether the person in the courtroom really deserved the sentence the state or country gives him/her.
Edited 2013-01-13 00:08 UTC
What I don’t understand is why just not escape to other country instead?
Would it be worse that doing what he did?
I cannot judge, just raising questions that only he could answer.
Not everyone has the money or the connections to make that happen. The moment you are wanted by the authorities for an alleged crime, how do you expect to get on board a plane to escape? Even if you made it, how many countries out there in the world aren’t US friendly that you could escape to?
How is 50 years of prison reasonable over alleged theft of academic journals? To allow such BS in the first place is just unfathomable.
Edited 2013-01-13 13:37 UTC
Bingo. It would be a big, difficult change even with all the money in the world, one that not everyone would be willing to make.
Edited 2013-01-13 17:37 UTC
Swartz was (presumably) Jewish. He could have easily gone to Israel and taken up Israeli citizenship. Israel won’t extradite it’s own citizens for civil crimes.
I would have gutted those lawyers before commiting suicide.
The little I know of Aaron I would imagine that a federal prosecution would be the least depressing thing in his life.
The least depressing???
Yes. There is some hyperbole to that, but if you knew him at all and know depression personally… attributing his suicide to the prosecution is akin to blaming video games for gun violence — detracting from the real issue and using a bogeyman to push your own agenda.
Well, something tells me that if you were on the fence whether you wanted to do it at first, 50 years of imprisonment is enough to make it a done deal.
The government slamming all its weight down on a person as its judgment sure as f–k doesn’t help when people have depression and other problems. Unless “ending the pain” faster is “help.”
Edited 2013-01-13 00:30 UTC
Yeah, because he’s the first person EVER in history to face the prospect of a long-term prison sentence.
Who ever said anything about “first ever?”
Just because many people before him were slammed hard with obscenely disproportionate sentences doesn’t automatically mean the entire system is flawless.
That shit happens all the time, sure as hell doesn’t make it any more “right” or fitting.
And that makes the fact that they were asking for 50 years in prison for copyright infringement better, how exactly?
I would understand political prisoners(their death achieves nothing), violent offenders, robbers and something similar.
The fact that he suffered from depression, and that he was facing the possibility of being sent to federal prison for a very long time, are not mutually exclusive reasons as to why he decided to end his life, two years to the date on which he was indicted.
And that depression was made easier by the prospect of 50 years in prison.
Ever heard of the straw that broke the camel’s back?
Read my story how people find strength to not commit suicide.
Agreed — those of us who followed freedom’s progress and his blog know he was on the edge long before the whole JSTOR idiocy… and like many people with depression he thrived under adversity and challenge; most people with clinical depression only run for the razors when ignored…
… which is why suicide is most always a cry for attention.
A what now?
Except when it’s not. My little brother took his own life in a very violent and definite way just over seven years ago. We had no idea he was depressed, and while he was a very outgoing person, he certainly didn’t do it seeking attention. After all, how would he be able to enjoy that attention (negative as it would have been) unless he survived? We think perhaps it was that he was in over his head with something deadly serious and saw no other way out, but we’ll never really know.
I think you are confusing people who attempt to hurt themselves using less dangerous measures such as cutting or overdosing with truly suicidal people. Those former are the attention seekers. The ones who succeed, often violently, are running away from something much bigger than themselves. It may be a real or imagined monster, but either way they have lost all hope for going on with life.
Exactly… the part you quoted was a clear indication to me that the person you quoted was just making assumptions on the matter, without really knowing what depression is like. I know first-hand… I have been ripped apart by it. Mostly stabilized and more able to control/suppress it, but it can still strike back hard.
A person who talks about suicide and threatens to commit suicide may just be calling out for attention/help in their own way… but people who are silent about it are the ones most likely to do it. You’ll just never know… because other than the way they act (which as you said can be virtually unnoticeable), people outside of them would probably never consider or notice a link. Until it’s done, when it becomes a shock.
Someone who is serious about ending it all will not say a word. They know the only “help” they will get is psychiatrists trying to convince them to not do it, and if they have made up their mind, why would they want that? It will only slow them down or prevent them from doing what they are convinced that they want deep inside. No amount of sweet talking by anyone will change someone’s mind it if that person is determined. And it can be incredibly difficult to change feelings that have become ingrained over time.
I think there are a lot of people who don’t “get” depression… but when you’ve gone through it, there is no mistaking the extremely strong, negative feelings from waking to bedtime; an intense “sadness” that is so extreme that no explanation or word can really do it justice; “emptiness” in my opinion is a more fitting word, but even it can’t explain it. To anyone who does not know what it’s like… consider yourself lucky.
And deathshadow… don’t fool yourself. A dead person does not want attention, and I seriously doubt anyone who is depressed to the point of suicide gives a damn about anything more in life, let alone attention. If you honestly think so, then you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Get back with us after you’ve gone through it and actually know what you’re going on about… I bet your thought process will have made a near 180° turn by then.
Even that’s wrong. Self harmers don’t do it for attention and most try to hide it and do it really well. They do it because it’s a release.
I think it depends on the person. I’ve known cutters who hid it and used it as a form of release, and I’ve known some who used it for attention seeking. My point was that they weren’t serious about killing themselves.
There’s a world of difference between being a cutter and slicing you wrist open with the intent of ending it all. Believe me. In many ways, it’s a game changer – especially if you manage to do enough soft tissue damage to cause permanent damage to the nerves. Life get’s pretty “real” when you either walk around in long sleeves for the rest of your life or constantly have to explain to complete strangers what happened.
If Obama were President.
Nice one.
He was also instrumental in stopping SOPA/PIPA which eventually led to ACTA being dropped as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgh2dFngFsg
Thanks for the link. Explains why the government would want to destroy him: the RIAA/MPAA media probably wanted it and their Federal toadies cheerfully obeyed. Meanwhile the scum that stole trillions of dollars, wrecked the world economy, and paid themselves billions in bonuses with U.S. taxpayer dollars haven’t even had their wrists slapped, much less been prosecuted. If Schwartz’ crimes were worth 50 years, the Wall Street bankers, brokers, and insurance companies should be given corporate death sentences and their officers sentenced to thousands of years in jail each with no possibility of parole or pardon and their estates confiscated.
This news upset me so much I signed up to “We the people” and signed the below petition:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-distr…
I share it with OS NEWS so that people who feel the same way can sign it too.
I would urge any American who could sign this petition to seriously consider taking the trouble to do it. We need to teach corporate toadies who abuse the government to never bully people into oblivion.
My heart goes out to those close to Swartz and those who were likewise harmed by the govt.
Are you really that naive? Exactly what do you think signing a petition is going to do? Sign it, send it, and watch them flush it down the toilet after wiping their ass with it. Petitions do absolutely nothing, and if you think they actually mean something to these assholes in power, you’re as much a part of the problem as they are. Understand this: they don’t care what you, or I, or any of the rest of us think. As long as all we do is throw words at them, nothing will change. They’re too far entrenched for petitions and protests to do anything but amuse them. Yet, as long as the only thing most of us are willing to do is throw words at them, we’ll never see enough concentrated effort to deal with these pricks.
Unfortunately, you are right. The White House has already demonstrated many times over since the introduction of their “We The People” petition site that the only “people” that matter are themselves. Time and time again Obama has refused to take serious issues brought up in the form of petitions as anything close to seriously.
See his official mocking of those various petitions of citizens who wanted marijuana to be legalized back when the site went up–petitions whose signatures far, far exceeded the official requirement just received the typical bullshit-driven, fact-devoid garbage and anti-drug propaganda the government is so excellent at spewing. Wonder if he feels like an idiot now that a couple of states have already legalized it, many higher-up people are speaking out for its legalization, and it is quickly gaining traction in other states. It’s like the unraveling of the Prohibition of Alcohol all over again, but for a new century and a different drug. And long past due.
And still, what the hell, I signed it anyway. It most likely won’t lead to anything at all, but it can’t hurt. And I already had an account created for signing other petitions previously. But I admit, you are pretty much right… the people in power don’t give a f–k about anything but their own wealth, power and personal agendas. We’re nothing to them; any claims otherwise are just to make it look like they really believe in the true meaning of the Constitution.
The main things they want is to trounce on more of our rights, make themselves more powerful and us mere citizens weaker as a result, find new ways to gouge us of money (taxes), and gain total control over how we live our lives. Once they’ve achieved that, they’ll be happy. Maybe.
Edited 2013-01-14 04:46 UTC
Sorry, but I have a hard time taking any movement to legalize certain drugs as being “serious”. Any libertarian or “freedom” movement that considers drug legalization a top priority cannot be taken seriously.
There simply are much more serious things to be concerning ourselves with.
Yeah… because more than one thing can’t be done at a time? Right. Face it: By your way of looking at it, nothing would ever be done, because the President would be too focused on one single problem. And if that were the case, then the President can’t even do his job correctly.
That said, at the same time I would never suggest the government put full focus on anything (as you seem to be claiming would be the case)… but I can say that from the way they have been operating, a hell of a lot of money (taxes), resources (police, prison space), etc. have been going directly toward the government’s strict anti-drug crusade. I would say that they’ve put a strongly disproportionate amount of effort into this mess, both getting into it and keeping in going… and if it requires effort to finally fix this mess, then so be it.
The government is the one who decided to start this catastrophe, using false facts year after year, hiding the real data, just to make it seem as if their miserable failure has worked. The only ones winning in this case are the government–specifically the DEA–because armed drug busts, arrests, confiscation, utterly destroying citizens for having anything to do with any “evil” chemical is their job, their living.
Four years–going on eight now–he could have done more than he has in that time, but he hasn’t.
Certainly not by you “freedom fighters”. Look how much you potheads have actually achieved on ANY front. Nothing but what amounts to complaining, because to actually achieve anything in this world you have to put aside distractions. Forgetting about any health issues or economic issues, the simple fact is drugs are a distraction. Both as a distraction for personal achievement and a distraction for meaningful political change.
Edited 2013-01-14 23:05 UTC
I don’t know much about this but people might like to refer to: unhandled.com/2013/01/12/the-truth-about-aaron-swartzs-crime/ (apols if the link has already been posted, & also for the unformatted url-posting from a mobile phone).
Just to note, I work professionally partnering with JSTOR – & knowing the integrity and compassion of colleagues there as I do I can very easily imagine how distraught they will be too at this news.
We should all be working towards opening up and developing the collective knowledge of the human species.
Rest in peace, Aaron.
Never really heard of him till today, so I’ll pass on speculating.
RIP. Clearly an incredible person. My prayers are with his family.
Condolences to the family and friends. It has to be a horrible corner that Aaron was squeezed into to do that.
Whoever is for this kind of copyright infringement enforcement is just a madman. 50 years is more than a life in prison sentence. A pre-meditated murder carries less that 50 years. Whoever thinks that a jail sentence is appropriate for non-violent crimes is just one of the people that got that poor kid into that state. (This story is following the one where the CEO of AIG is suing US government for inadequate conditions imposed on their bailout)
I’ve been on the verge of suicide 3 times and getting away from it was one of the hardest things I could do. But it was only due to support from my family and the prospects of a better tomorrow. US government(read content mafia and loudmouth f*ckers like Ari Emanuel) did everything to make sure that the kid could not see a positive future for himself.
RIP
Most unfortunate. Having two friends who have suicidal tendencies, deaths like this touch me to the core and make me reach out more to my friends. They are now emotionally stable (Thank god), all they need is someone to listen to them and make them feel like they belong. Condolences to Aaron’s family, may he now find peace and he shall be remembered for his brilliance.
It is a harsh light on our civilisation that somebody who breaks copyright law in order to help others can receive a sentence ($1m+ & 30 years) far, far harsher than someone who commits cold-blooded and premeditated murder.
Kind of tells you exactly what our society really values.
In case most of you are wondering, the USA right now is flirting with a new version of Corpratism/Fascism government.
All of it centrally controlled by a foreign reserve banking system also known as the “Federal Reserve”/Bank of England/Brussels.
The primary goal of this system, is to use currency to destroy sovereign governments, move in and steal all of the countries privately owned lands/resources through a system call “austerity”.
Then through globalism secure the lands and resources for the banking cartels members and technocrats and corporations boards which support them internationally through banking.
Now many of you are probably wondering, what this has to do with Swartz.
Good Question, almost there.
You see, it is a very well kept secret, that the USA is in a depression. We would have overthrown our government long ago, but due to the fact that these bankers at the Federal Reserve can print as much money as they want, allows them to do all sorts of evil things.
Like print food stamps courtesy of CHASE Bank and instill for all counts now 50+ million americans into a future of Bleak subsistence and poverty.
At a tidy profit of course for Chase Bank on a lot of human misery going on in the USA.
You see, Mr. Swartz is just more road kill as these bankers spread their mischief throughout the world because they enabled though money printing the security branches that prosecuted him and made his life crap.
I can assure everyone here, if the USA government/banking system had to survive on real economic/fair and _REAL_ healthy capitalism/equal opportunity and of course, all of that stuff about liberty and freedom for all, this fascist system would collapse immediately.
You know, the _REAL_ capitalism that says, well, I am sorry Mr. Banker your investments didn’t work out, you are now penniless.
But of course, as we know from the FOIA requests, they didn’t get told that, they got 16 Trillion dollars, plus bonuses for all of the institutions involved for being BETTER than you, me and of course, RIP Swartz.
Now there appears NO END TOO IT. If you are a Banker class, you can enslaves millions and destroy millions of lives and say “Sorry I AM TOO BIG TO FAIL AND YOU CAN EAT CAKE.”
But due to the fact the Dollar is a reserve currency, they are printing money like gangbusters and for now, they are getting away with it by creating truly monstrous and evil branches and laws in the United States and security apparatus. (i.e. DHS, NDAA Acts, OBAMA Care, etc.)
You have to hand it too them. They _KNOW_ they did some very treasonous things, and they are going like Gang busters to create laws to protect themselves when it blows up.
Now it looks like they are coming for our guns too and wouldn’t you know it, right around the time when this whole ponzy scheme is about to go in the gutter and lots of angry people are going to be hunting a new kind of game: Bankers and Politicians who voted for these laws and acts for their banking pals, they want our guns.
Oh, they _certainly_ are going to get the part of the gun that comes out the end and kills them all, but not the gun.
Coincidence?
This will come to an end though, because you can’t fight…12 interdictions on 5 continents and just print money to pay for it. Destroy the citizenry with positively evil security forces killing Americans through the use of drone warfare and the like without blow back.
And Blow back is coming. From the little old lady that can’t die in her own damn house because Bernanke destroyed her savings with zero interest rates, to now Swartz who’s life was made a mess by the same security apparatus funded by all of this ludicrous money printing.
Blow back and PAY BACK is coming.
Swartz, if his death is to mean anything, in this fascist bull crap academic goverment institutionalized moronic psychopathic Federal Reserve world we live in, you have to prepare for the time when they come FOR YOU.
So in his memory prepare for what is to come, and take notes from history. Prepare yourself and be prepared because whether it is the IRS, a Camera on the street or a Drone in the sky that finds you next to a suspect this whole security apparatus wants dead.
You might be next.
-Hack
Using a tragedy to push an agenda, classy…
I am sorry if you think it the FACTS are an agenda.
What I posted wasn’t an opinion piece.
You can find the information if you care to do your own research and file FOIA requests.
People in Greece are doing the exact same thing as Swartz did, which is kill themselves over oppressive government.
This has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with criminal governments.
Who I can assure you, could care less about your politics or mine, and want only one thing: Power and Control.
-Hackus
I’m saddened by the loss of Aaron,shame shame on the bullies. Aaron was one of the good guys. He didn’t have to be driven to this. My condolences to family and friends.
“That person is gone today, driven to the edge by what a decent society would only call bullying. I get wrong. But I also get proportionality. And if you don’t get both, you don’t deserve to have the power of the United States government behind you.”
Very good point, indeed. But it – unfortunately, as most people – assumes, that the government is always right, that people in any government are necessarily intelligent, balanced and know what they’re doing. Errr, wrong. They’re usually there for the money only. Sometimes they’re for the money AND their own interrest related to the so-called “power”. Rarely they’re there for anything else.
Cut the money they get and then cut the privilleges they get and you’ll see how many of them are there for the “public good”. That’s a bogus crap and I simply don’t buy it.
I don’t know if it would have helped, but I always hope someone who is suicidal would talk to a friend (or even a stranger) about their issues that are making them suicidal. Not just the issues, but also that the issues are making the person think about suicide.
It’s the kind of big permanent decision that shouldn’t be made without external views. Depression can create tunnel vision of one’s future.
Although the press has indicated that Mr. Swartz had issues with depression, I currently cannot find a single individual who thought he was depressed enough to take his life.
Perhaps if someone knows a post where he mentions nothing left to live for, etc.
So far from what I have gathered although the number of legal penalties are severe, the end result of his action didn’t do any damage to anyone.
More than likely he would have got probation as he also has no prior legal record.
His legal attorney’s must have known this, given the more political nature of the crime than criminal and made that clear to Swartz.
So his suicide doesn’t fit the profile and until I see more serious proof of suicide, I am inclined to believe it was not a suicide.
(i.e. Haven’t interviewed the coroner yet though.)
-Hack
If someone is depressed and determined enough, the absolute last thing they would ever do is admit to anyone that they plan on killing themselves.
People don’t exactly spill all the beans regarding their thoughts when they’re depressed. They often keep that to themselves. And for reasons you would know all too well if you’ve ever actually gone through it yourself.
As has been pointed out already, people with suicidal thoughts don’t tend to share them, or make efforts to hide them. There’s also no saying how long it takes to go from the first thought to taking action. Disbelief after suicides is common for these very reasons.
Please don’t. Please don’t start spreading some conspiracy theory just because his decision doesn’t make sense to you. We lost a great man – the reason for which we will never truly know to its full extent – and I implore you to not help turn it in to a circus sideshow.
Edited 2013-01-15 14:01 UTC
So you call a nut a nut and osnews locks out your account. The US didn’t kill this guy. He did it to himself. Why are you trying to whitewash this? He was a big boy, he knew what he did was wrong. A real man would have taken his punishment. No he did the not real man way just like osnews did. Thank, I know my opinions were not welcome here. My opinions were Thom is always crying, I can steal. It’s OK. This sort of moral lack is the reason the guy killed himself. The world full of crybabies that don’t like the truth.
I don’t think anyone here ever said that the U.S. Government strapped him to an electric chair, gassed him to death, sent a firing squad in or gave him a lethal injection.
What they did do was trample all over his already frail emotions and used its judgment to crush him to the maximum extent that the law will allow, as is typical of the U.S. Federal Government.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/13/the-brilliant-mind-righteous-heart-o…
Edited 2013-01-15 03:30 UTC
You’re right, they’re not. Please, leave and let the rest of us mourn.