Internet genius, Aaron Swartz, hangs himself in his NYC apartment | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

LI_Leaderboard_4

LI_Leaderboard_1

LI_Leaderboard_2

LI_Leaderboard_3

Sunday 13 January 2013

Internet genius, Aaron Swartz, hangs himself in his NYC apartment


26 year old Aaron Swart was found dead in his New York apartment on Friday January 11th, weeks before he was to go on trial for downloading subscription-only academic papers with the intent to distribute them.

The hacker-activist was facing federal charges, a possible sentence of 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Guess he couldn't take it all and so he hanged himself in his apartment in Brooklyn on Friday.
"Aaron has been depressed about his case/upcoming trial, but we had no idea what he was going through was this painful." Susan Swartz, Aaron's mother, posted on a hacker section of the Ycombinator Web site today.
  

Sample papers Swartz attempted to set free include "John Berryman: The Poetics of Martyrdom" and "Mapping the Niger, 1798-1832: Trust, Testimony and 'Ocular Demonstration' in the Late Enlightenment." On its own initiative, JSTOR, which hosts the academic papers and never pressed charges against Swartz, started offering limited free access to its archive just this week.

Two years ago, in January, 2011, Swartz was arrested for, essentially, setting information free - as an animal-rights activist might liberate a zoo. In 2008, he had thrown open PACER, a subscription-only trove of federal judicial documents. And then he had downloaded the 4.8 million articles from JSTOR. Swartz was ch arged, then, with wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and damaging a protected computer.

65 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its hard to understand your writing

segunsd said...

How sad. Shows how fickle the hope of man is. Pretty sad. Suicide should never be an option.

Check out never-been-seen pictures of Beyonce's baby bump on naijaPOSE

Also I heard that Kim Kardashian may quit TV. Sorry folks. Read HERE

Eya Ayambem said...

See what depression can lead to.*Sigh*
So sad!
Btw, for simple, easy to cook and healthy Nigerian meal recipes, I suggest we VISIT: www.wivestownhallconnection.com

Anonymous said...

Burn in hell sucker!
Billie jean

A.R.K said...

hmmm .. . Why was he not using his brain legally ? He for don be like Bill Gates . Dont know if I should say RIP

Anonymous said...

...really too bad! Committing suicide isn't worth it!

Anonymous said...

So sad!after they would say nigerians are among the saddest people in the world. America nw leads the world in the highest sucide rates.

BLOGLORD (MVBM) said...

why did u do this to yourself this fine chap? where there is life, there is hope but i guess you chose this path without givng that a thought.
i can't say RIP cos u sure going to hell and the fire is damn so hot; definitely you can;t be at peace there.

BONARIO NNAGS said...

May his soul rest in peace,trust me not to judge.

~BONARIO~says so via NOKIA3310

Anonymous said...

Probably murdered because he knew a lot of things

Kim said...

Then go back to school, ode!

★★PRINCE CHARMING™★★ said...

IT geeks mostly have issues and that's a fact, RIP to him

Kim said...

Exactly! They run those stupid statistics about nigeria, just to make their country look good, when in reality America is more fucked up than any other country in the world! All those mass shootings and suicides!

Unknown said...

Guy na u Sabi o....many guys down here face even brutal conditions n they'v not contemplated suicide...I'm not judging, d deed is done.

Unknown said...

Suicide is not the answer. So sad

Anonymous said...

Billie Goat, you are a big FOOL. Thunda fire you for not respecting d dead. Ewu merrr. Must u comment. FOOL!!!!!!! Heartless Billie Goat!

Ïjebu Wife said...

So sad. May we never bury our children by God's grace. Amin.

Chikaka said...

This money ehn....
What a waste of talent.

HANNABELA said...

Why all this america dey hang dem self...I pity ur mama oooo...linda does america life has a duplicate?

volt said...

Your soo bitter you bastard...you can rot in hell as well

Anonymous said...

U ehn!!!

Anonymous said...

Linda, stop selling negativity. It's good to say your mind like bonario is doing or does. But, for Billie jean, you need to reconsider posting their comment if it's always this negative. This person has issues.

Angel Ricardo said...

People are missing the point. His intentions were altruistic, it's just the way he went about it that's wrong. However suicide is never a choice. Don't Judge.

Anonymous said...

Or illegally for gain? Why set "information free". Na learner o. If e be 9ja boi ha! The thought of all d moni he must have made will keep him veryt far aaway from suicide

ec said...

Poor boy.may his soul rip amen

Anonymous said...

It's so obvious this guy was killed. The suicide story is just a cover up.

Anonymous said...

That is d diff bw a white man and a black man. Black man will always think of what he stands to gain while a white man will think of what he can contribute to society. Haven't you enjoyed softcopy of books you got from friends or copied music from them? Why did you get it for free when you should pay for it?

Anonymous said...

Best comment! Means you have knowledge/idea of the IT world.

Anonymous said...

these comments are embarrassing. linda your readers are so clueless. i don't even know where to start. from self righteous mumus saying "you're going straight to hell" to the ones shamelessly marketing their own blogs i.e. Eya Ayambem and segunsd to the other person going on about black men and white men - seriously wtf is wrong with everybody?

Here's a tip for everyone - READ the story. If you don't know what depression is, look it up. And it's not by force to comment. Abi Linda are you dashing money for commenting?

Anonymous said...

A lot of people on here gives this dude the attention he wants.
It'l b nice if no1 replies him. I swear he does this for ur attention and u guys never dissapoint him. #justsaying

Unknown said...

Those bluffs ehn... Cooking up stories. Do they really expect evry1 to be believe e committed suicide? I dnt beliv in genius like dis committing suicide. Dnt judge any1, so wen u say go to hell think bowt it again

Anonymous said...

Its *hung himself* not *hanged himself*

Unknown said...

So talented but used it in a nagtive way.now see the result. We reap what we sow.

Anonymous said...

Hi am goodness from caleb university he had good motive but where he went wrong was hacking people laptop rest in peace

Deekay said...

Chei! What a loss! :(( hope he's in a better place. He meant no harm.... :(

Anonymous said...

Ogbeni stop deceiving urself... Which country is f**ked up and every year people from all over the world keeps applying for u.s visa lottery and am pretty sure u applied for dis year's own

Anonymous said...

its a shame ,i suspect foul play

Anonymouse said...

Billie Jean
You rock my world
I'll kiss your teeth if you want
Cos you're so awesooome
You're the one
.....Cheers....Love Anonymouse

Unknown said...

After una go say Nigeria na one of the saddest country... Yeye people

Unknown said...

After una go say Nigeria na one of the saddest country... Yeye people

Anonymous said...

SAD CASE, COMMITTED A CRIME AND THINKS THAT SUICIDE IS THE SOLUTION, PROBABLY THINKS ITS AN EASY WAY OUT.


http://applytojobs.blogspot.co.uk

Anonymous said...

Do you want to start a very successful cooperative business this year? Get your free report at www.povertykillerng.com

Anonymous said...

Toksy B:RIP!!!! Some comments just make me LMAO,then pple insulting themselve...Smh

Anonymous said...

I too know it is hanged not hung no be clothe. Olodo

Anonymous said...

Summer 2013 Admission into the United States International University in Nairobi have Started..If your interested or would like to gain an Admission into USIU please send a mail to donyekachi@ymail.com for more information.

Anonymous said...

Summer 2013 Admission into the United States International University in Nairobi have Started..If your interested or would like to gain an Admission into USIU please send a mail to donyekachi@ymail.com for more information.

Anonymous said...

Summer 2013 Admission into the United States International University in Nairobi have Started..If your interested or would like to gain an Admission into USIU please send a mail to donyekachi@ymail.com for more information.

Dlapikin said...

I understand him. He is very young, and with this type of physique it wouldn't take a minute before he bocomes someone's bitch in jail. lots of these computer geniuses are often people with socialisation issues at the base look at McAfee and Zuckerberg just to name these two, when you look at the story of their lives and their social behavior they are misfits! I'm sure Steve Jobs and Bill gates were not too far from that in their youth either. So I completely understand that the anxiety to go to jail for 35 years and especially not to have access to a computer would push such individuals to suicide. ( For this type of crime, it is standard that you are banned from technology).

Dlapikin said...

I understand him. He is very young, and with this type of physique it wouldn't take a minute before he bocomes someone's bitch in jail. lots of these computer geniuses are often people with socialisation issues at the base look at McAfee and Zuckerberg just to name these two, when you look at the story of their lives and their social behavior they are misfits! I'm sure Steve Jobs and Bill gates were not too far from that in their youth either. So I completely understand that the anxiety to go to jail for 35 years and especially not to have access to a computer would push such individuals to suicide. ( For this type of crime, it is standard that you are banned from technology).

Olubabafemi said...

Oh! I didn't know you created the guy! That's why you are able to tell the world where he'll be - Hell.

You'll be shocked on the judgement day#

Leave Jehavah to judge him.

May God forgive you.

Anonymous said...

'hanged himself' is correct and purely academic writing

hillz.B said...

Ur english is backward hanged is correct ur english teacher was a learner

Lynnajade said...

Anon6:30 hang has two past tense "hanged and hung"
Hanged is used when talking about a method of execution but hung is used in all circumstances eg she hung the pic on the wall

Anonymous said...

Na cloth u hung?

sheylee bee said...

Anonymous 6:30... hanged himself is correct even more correct than hung himself in dis situation,

sheylee bee said...

Anonymous 6:30... hanged himself is correct even more correct than hung himself in dis situation,

Anonymous said...

Thank u anon 5 28. Feel so sad bout dis. That JStor in particular is so useless! They show u d perfect excerpts but ask that u pay all d time. Its very tempting to plagiarise cos bin thinking bout what this boy did for a very long time didn't know it was possible. In my opinion I think he is a HERO

Anonymous said...

i did not see any real reason for suicide from where i was sitting but maybe id watch the replay and get better insight... shocking decision nonetheless

>ArseneWenger

Anonymous said...

"Guess he couldn't take it all and so he HANGED himself"......gbagaun!!! Linda is 'ringed" a bell today o.

The correct verb is "hung" not hanged Linda!

Anonymous said...

Pls it is Hunged shw

Anonymous said...

I am in agreement with this man, information wants to be free. I can remember the annoyance and difficulty I had using the JSTOR website because they want you to pay for what they have not writen.

Folarin Akin said...

Oga o! awon olo yibo!

Anonymous said...

There is a social network for geeks to relate now. sign up on www.digitalnaija.com

Anonymous said...

Choi, dem don finish you today o Mr teacher, kpele o
Where u hide?

Anonymous said...

life without GOD is a hopeless one

Recent Posts