Channel 9 Forums - Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/Dev/App_Themes/C9/images/feedimage.png Channel 9 Forums - Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums Channel 9 keeps you up to date with the latest news and behind the scenes info from Microsoft that developers love to keep up with. From LINQ to SilverLight – Watch videos and hear about all the cool technologies coming and the people behind them. http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums en Sat, 25 May 2013 17:34:30 GMT Sat, 25 May 2013 17:34:30 GMT Rev9 17 -17 -1 Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 Inventor of RSS (at age 14..), pseudo-cofounder of Reddit, founder of DemandProgress, amongst other illustrious accomplishments in his short life.

http://boingboing.net/2013/01/12/rip-aaron-swartz.html

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/502c8d2ae9f34a39b046a14501067c1d#502c8d2ae9f34a39b046a14501067c1d Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:55:40 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/502c8d2ae9f34a39b046a14501067c1d#502c8d2ae9f34a39b046a14501067c1d Bass 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Bass/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 Reddit is well done.  Was he really a founder?  I have not seen any official notices on the site.

 

 

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/5713f569254e4ed99f35a145010b7f73#5713f569254e4ed99f35a145010b7f73 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:13:55 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/5713f569254e4ed99f35a145010b7f73#5713f569254e4ed99f35a145010b7f73 Steve Richter 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/SteveRichter/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 Here is from Reddit: http://blog.reddit.com/2013/01/aaronsw-1986-2013.html

Depends on your definition of founder I guess, he was a founder in the sense of "founding father", but he wasn't there on day one. He did join early on and had equal equity in the company with the other founders though. Since I don't know the best way to describe that, I'll just say "pseudo-cofounder".

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/c80221e6ad934a888e5fa1450111346f#c80221e6ad934a888e5fa1450111346f Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:34:42 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/c80221e6ad934a888e5fa1450111346f#c80221e6ad934a888e5fa1450111346f Bass 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Bass/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 He was also very involved in the defeat of SOPA/PIPA, an interesting video talking about that:

This is like all over the tech news right now of course. It is worth noting he was facing 35+ years of jail time for what was basically spidering the contents of a website against its TOS. The website in question did not elect to press charges against him, but the US government did anyway. Very weird situation.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/ffdcd7a3d7b749bc8c86a145011380da#ffdcd7a3d7b749bc8c86a145011380da Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:43:04 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/ffdcd7a3d7b749bc8c86a145011380da#ffdcd7a3d7b749bc8c86a145011380da Bass 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Bass/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 Shouldn't he ask Obama about hope? Don't gave up hope too early. Hope others seek hope if in the same situation.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/1122bca54be94360bf7ba14501515c43#1122bca54be94360bf7ba14501515c43 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:28:17 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/1122bca54be94360bf7ba14501515c43#1122bca54be94360bf7ba14501515c43 magicalclick 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/magicalclick/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 Just think of what would have happened to him if he downloaded 4.8 million MP3s.

Sad.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/b27a08acf97d40bbb7afa145015f4005#b27a08acf97d40bbb7afa145015f4005 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 21:18:51 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/b27a08acf97d40bbb7afa145015f4005#b27a08acf97d40bbb7afa145015f4005 Joshua Ross 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Jsoh/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26

, JoshRoss wrote

Just think of what would have happened to him if he downloaded 4.8 million MP3s.

Sad.

I have downloaded over 2,000 MP3s. To be more specific, they were copyrighted songs, and I didn't pay for them. It is my understanding that this is legal. Because of the existence of an extra tax (in my jurisdiction) on cd's for the purpose of compensating to copyright holders, even if I use the cd for a purpose other than putting a song on it, that allows me to get off scot free do download songs as I please.

Even if the tax did not exist, it would still be legal for me to download copyrighted songs.

It is providing access, or uploading the songs that is illegal.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/3d7840d8c3b142c88b97a146006ecaa5#3d7840d8c3b142c88b97a146006ecaa5 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 06:43:22 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/3d7840d8c3b142c88b97a146006ecaa5#3d7840d8c3b142c88b97a146006ecaa5 Proton2 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Proton2/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26

, Proton2 wrote

*snip*

I have downloaded over 2,000 MP3s. To be more specific, they were copyrighted songs, and I didn't pay for them. It is my understanding that this is legal. Because of the existence of an extra tax (in my jurisdiction) on cd's for the purpose of compensating to copyright holders, even if I use the cd for a purpose other than putting a song on it, that allows me to get off scot free do download songs as I please.

Even if the tax did not exist, it would still be legal for me to download copyrighted songs.

It is providing access, or uploading the songs that is illegal.

You can rationalize all you want, what you're doing is still illegal.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/ce91bf5a7b814b389cc9a14600e63c6f#ce91bf5a7b814b389cc9a14600e63c6f Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:58:15 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/ce91bf5a7b814b389cc9a14600e63c6f#ce91bf5a7b814b389cc9a14600e63c6f William Kempf 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/wkempf/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26

, Proton2 wrote

*snip*

I have downloaded over 2,000 MP3s. To be more specific, they were copyrighted songs, and I didn't pay for them. It is my understanding that this is legal. Because of the existence of an extra tax (in my jurisdiction) on cd's for the purpose of compensating to copyright holders, even if I use the cd for a purpose other than putting a song on it, that allows me to get off scot free do download songs as I please.

Even if the tax did not exist, it would still be legal for me to download copyrighted songs.

It is providing access, or uploading the songs that is illegal.

I would advise you to ask an attorney whether they think what you are doing is illegal or not, rather than just assuming it is legal.

The law != common sense.

I can rationalize my behaviour on C9 != I can defend my behaviour in court.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/23b144c242e44e91a3b3a14600e90bdc#23b144c242e44e91a3b3a14600e90bdc Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:08:29 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/23b144c242e44e91a3b3a14600e90bdc#23b144c242e44e91a3b3a14600e90bdc evildictaitor 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/evildictaitor/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 @Proton2:Note that the "tax" only goes to major labels and almost never (nothing that I heard of, but I can't be sure, so "almost never") goes to the artists themselves. If you downloaded these musics, it's still wrong even if you're using the "already paid tax" sense.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/563bad836f6b4cd785dea146011dac01#563bad836f6b4cd785dea146011dac01 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:20:05 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/563bad836f6b4cd785dea146011dac01#563bad836f6b4cd785dea146011dac01 cheong 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/cheong/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 @Proton2: you do realize you are at mercy of record companies, right?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/b5713519fa1348d9bd2da146015760fe#b5713519fa1348d9bd2da146015760fe Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:50:12 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/b5713519fa1348d9bd2da146015760fe#b5713519fa1348d9bd2da146015760fe magicalclick 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/magicalclick/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 How many here have ripped a CD that you did not own? Hypocrites.

Anyway, I left out the second part of my rant as I wanted to see the reactions. Good job fellows, you played along.

Part 2 of my downloaded music rant:

 

  1. The songs I downloaded disappeared long ago when the hard drive they were stored on crashed. I listened to very few of them, and even then only once or twice.
  2. I don't listen to songs / music. I'm more of a TV person. I grew up without a record player in the house, though at one point we had a cassette player and listened to Burl      Ives singing "Goober Peas" and some Mario Lanza songs. I was 18      before I started to listen to music on the radio.
  3. I was 19 when I bought my first record player, and over the years I bought about half a dozen records. I then switched to tapes. Skipped the 8-track era altogether. I      bought maybe a dozen tapes over the years.
  4. I have only purchased one single music cd. It's a Rolling Stones live album, which I was      disappointed in as I wanted the quality of a studio recording.
  5. I have listened to a huge amount of music over the radio as the radio was playing all day long at work, and on the car radio.

So am I concerned about action against me from the Record industry? Not at all. They should be concerned that I don't buy their music because I don't listen to their music.

 

I have seen the following in concert, partial list: David Bowie, The Cars, Devo, Z Z Top, The Police, Doug and the Slugs, Jeff Healey.

I have spent about as much on live concerts as I have on recorded music.

I was very surprised when I listened to some of those downloaded music files on a device with stereo headphones as I had never heard music other than through tinny speakers. I was surprised how good it sounded and what I was missing all those years.

Music seems awfully a lot like a drug. The music industry seems more like a drug pushing industry.

The Crony Capitalism of charging all Canadians with a music levy even if they have not downloaded music and only use cd's to store their camera pictures or data files is my justification, and that's all I need. Reap what you sow music industry.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/65702e2bddac4d578a5ea1470057309b#65702e2bddac4d578a5ea1470057309b Tue, 15 Jan 2013 05:17:26 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/65702e2bddac4d578a5ea1470057309b#65702e2bddac4d578a5ea1470057309b Proton2 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Proton2/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26

, Proton2 wrote

*snip*

Music seems awfully a lot like a drug.

*furious snipping*

Can't say I followed your rant, but you definitely got something right. Music is a nasty psycotropic substance; it can be exhilarating, it can make you cry, it can make you drive like a baboon and usually crave for more and better stuff.

The good thing is, it's legal in most countries, and nobody can stop you from making your own (except for common decency and, maybe, your neighbors).

Rock and roll, man...

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/65fbc1b962c844c4ad7aa14700ae867f#65fbc1b962c844c4ad7aa14700ae867f Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:35:25 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/65fbc1b962c844c4ad7aa14700ae867f#65fbc1b962c844c4ad7aa14700ae867f Blue Ink 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Blue Ink/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26

, Proton2 wrote

So am I concerned about action against me from the Record industry? Not at all. They should be concerned that I don't buy their music because I don't listen to their music.

Whether or not you get indicted and/or required to pay a big fine is entirely independent of whether you are concerned about the Record industry.

It's your money and your choice, but don't trick yourself into thinking that because you're "good for the music industry" or can rationalize your own actions that that somehow gives you immunity from their lawyers. Too many people who did that have ended up very poor and very angry after being forced to pay ludicrous fines to the record labels.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/726661c6c7fd4ea39f7aa14700e15374#726661c6c7fd4ea39f7aa14700e15374 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:40:23 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/726661c6c7fd4ea39f7aa14700e15374#726661c6c7fd4ea39f7aa14700e15374 evildictaitor 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/evildictaitor/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 @Proton2:

, Proton2 wrote

How many here have ripped a CD that you did not own? Hypocrites.

Irrelevant, and the label is unfounded. No one that pointed out that what you did was illegal said a thing about their own behavior. If you can rationalize your behavior, fine. Just don't say it's legal due to your rationalization.

I think DRM is repugnant and morally wrong. I've broken DRM on this basis. *I* believe I'm on the right side of morality here, since I've broken DRM only to do things that I believe should fall under "fair use" and that I shouldn't be restricted from doing. However, unlike you, I don't use my rationalizations to claim what I did was legal.

Can't say I understood any of the rest or your diatribe. Lots of personal information without much of an argument or point, as far as I could tell.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/4e6e381a3c1d448a898ca14700e3adf0#4e6e381a3c1d448a898ca14700e3adf0 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:48:57 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/4e6e381a3c1d448a898ca14700e3adf0#4e6e381a3c1d448a898ca14700e3adf0 William Kempf 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/wkempf/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 Back on topic -- I found this an interesting read concerning what Aaron Swartz was charged with.

Herbie

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/edfd35fb34eb4c01b4e8a14700f0fdc5#edfd35fb34eb4c01b4e8a14700f0fdc5 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:37:25 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/edfd35fb34eb4c01b4e8a14700f0fdc5#edfd35fb34eb4c01b4e8a14700f0fdc5 Herbie Smith 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Dr Herbie/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Aaron Swartz commits suicide; dies at 26 @Proton2: the point is, don't record yourself speeding and justify there is no car on the freeway and post it on YouTube with 1000 views. there is a difference between knowing it is illegal and moderate than justify it is legal and piss off the people who can win the fight. there are tons of gray area such as abortion. Know the law and follow it. If you really need it, just don't tell everyone about it and make a big new headline. Before the law is updated, fighting it will get you hurt, unless you are prepared to get hurt.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/db71b551c5044bdc82aca147014e287a#db71b551c5044bdc82aca147014e287a Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:16:37 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/Aaron-Swartz-commits-sucide-dies-at-26/db71b551c5044bdc82aca147014e287a#db71b551c5044bdc82aca147014e287a magicalclick 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/magicalclick/Discussions/RSS