Modern inventor for the internet commits suicide

[This name sucks]

Oh good job government for f'ing things up and making the guy suicide like the people didn't even give a F but the government: NOPE NOT OFF THE HOOK DC

Good work.

Yep. Both organizations that were stolen from didn't want to press charges and even appealed to the government to let the guy go but they kept pushing.

I'm 99% sure they saw this as an excellent opportunity to make an example out of someone; and they did. An example of how controlling and intrusive the government is.

The feds were a totally unrelated 3rd party that was not affected in any way whatsoever but they were the ones with the bloodlust in mind. Sickening.

[Orlong]

This truly sad. The other horrific this is that prisons ARE so bad alot would choose death over them.

Prisons are SUPPOSED to be BAD. If you dont want to experience one, then dont break the law. This guy KNEW he was breaking the law and decided to do it anyway. I have no sympathy for him

[This name sucks]

Prisons are SUPPOSED to be BAD. If you dont want to experience one, then dont break the law. This guy KNEW he was breaking the law and decided to do it anyway. I have no sympathy for him

This is a joke, right?

[Orlong]

Yep. Both organizations that were stolen from didn't want to press charges and even appealed to the government to let the guy go but they kept pushing.

I'm 99% sure they saw this as an excellent opportunity to make an example out of someone; and they did. An example of how controlling and intrusive the government is.

The feds were a totally unrelated 3rd party that was not affected in any way whatsoever but they were the ones with the bloodlust in mind. Sickening.

The government's main function is to enforce the law. It doesnt matter if the victim wants them to or not. a few years ago when the guy killed all those kids in the Amish Schoolhouse, the Amish forgave the guy but the police still prosecuted him. Victims opinions dont matter when it comes to enforcing the law.

[Tackhisis]

Do they call the co-developer of RSS and (absolutely useless) RDF 'an inventor of a modern internet?' That's ridiculous.

[Deleted]

Suffice it to say, you will get flak for such a dodgy thread title. ''Inventor for the internet'' is bordering on just plain misleading. Just say ''creator of the first news feed'' or something.

No sympathy from me anyway, suicide is nothing but weak and often selfish.

[This name sucks]

Suffice it to say, you will get flak for such a dodgy thread title. ''Inventor for the internet'' is bordering on just plain misleading. Just say ''creator of the first news feed'' or something.

No sympathy from me anyway, suicide is nothing but weak and often selfish.

He did more than just develop v1 RSS. A lot more.

So you think that killing yourself rather than spend 35 years in jail and have a 1 million dollar fine because you were chosen to be an example is selfish.

Explain that to me please because I sounds to me like you're just using the same generic response that everyone seems to fucking use for suicide. Hint hint: Killing yourself takes a lot of courage; to dive into the unknown where nobody has ever returned from.

[Guyviroth]

No sympathy from me anyway, suicide is nothing but weak and often selfish.

Is it selfish for a man who chose death over life more selfish than those who want to keep him living a terrible life? Think about it. And keep your mouth shut about it, too.

But I will say, no, I don't sympathize either. The man sought out to make the internet free and truly world wide -- by stealing. Oh yeah, great role model. If you want something, take it by any means necessary; that's basically what he displayed.

[This name sucks]

The government's main function is to enforce the law. It doesnt matter if the victim wants them to or not. a few years ago when the guy killed all those kids in the Amish Schoolhouse, the Amish forgave the guy but the police still prosecuted him. Victims opinions dont matter when it comes to enforcing the law.

I didn't realize spreading the wealth of information humanity possesses was a worse crime than:

Manslaughter: Federal law provides that someone who kills another human being “[u]pon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion” faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if subject to federal jurisdiction. The lesser crime of involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of only six years.

Bank Robbery: A person who “by force and violence, or by intimidation” robs a bank faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. If the criminal “assaults any person, or puts in jeopardy the life of any person by the use of a dangerous weapon or device,” this sentence is upped to a maximum of 25 years.

Selling Child Pornography: The maximum prison sentence for a first-time offender who “knowingly sells or possesses with intent to sell” child pornography in interstate commerce is 20 years. Significantly, the only way to produce child porn is to sexually molest a child, which means that such a criminal is literally profiting off of child rape or sexual abuse.

Knowingly Spreading AIDS: A person who “after testing positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and receiving actual notice of that fact, knowingly donates or sells, or knowingly attempts to donate or sell, blood, semen, tissues, organs, or other bodily fluids for use by another, except as determined necessary for medical research or testing” faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Selling Slaves: Under federal law, a person who willfully sells another person “into any condition of involuntary servitude” faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, although the penalty can be much higher if the slaver’s actions involve kidnapping, sexual abuse or an attempt to kill.

Genocidal Eugenics: A person who “imposes measures intended to prevent births” within a particular racial, ethnic or religious group or who “subjects the group to conditions of life that are intended to cause the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part” faces a maximum prison term of 20 years, provided their actions did not result in a death.

Helping al-Qaeda Develop A Nuclear Weapon: A person who “willfully participates in or knowingly provides material support or resources . . . to a nuclear weapons program or other weapons of mass destruction program of a foreign terrorist power, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be imprisoned for not more than 20 years.”

Violence At International Airports: Someone who uses a weapon to “perform[] an act of violence against a person at an airport serving international civil aviation that causes or is likely to cause serious bodily injury” faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years if their actions do not result in a death.

Threatening The President: A person who threatens to kill the President, the President-elect, the Vice President or the Vice President-elect faces a maximum prison term of 5 years.
Assaulting A Supreme Court Justice: Assaults against very senior government officials, including Members of Congress, cabinet secretaries or Supreme Court justices are punished by a maximum prison sentence of just one year. If the assault “involved the use of a dangerous weapon, or personal injury results,” the maximum prison term is 10 years.

[Rukentuts]

Hint hint: Killing yourself takes a lot of courage; to dive into the unknown where nobody has ever returned from.

Bullshit. Facing the consequences of your actions takes more courage. This guy decided to take the coward's way out.

[Tackhisis]

He is a typical example of 'the laws are for cattle, we are Masters and live to our own rules' attitude.

And no doubt without RDF the blast furnaces will grow cold, the fields will stop yield, anarchy and cannibalism will erupt. I tell you.

[AlamarAtMMOC]

Yet this will not get 1/10000th the attention that steve jobs got.

One can only hope...

-Alamar

[Harry Botter]

Agree with it or not, he broke the law. He knew the consequences of what he was doing and apparently he couldn't handle them. Was he a genius? Yes. But that still doesn't change the fact he did something illegal, and didn't want to face up to it. I think he should have faced it in court and tried to make his stand. Instead the government can now sweep as much of it under the rug as they can from the general public.

[someotherguy]

I see this as a clash between law and technology.
Technology lets that info be free.
Public money paid for it, and the only thing that's holding it back from being free are the publishers - who did not want to press charges.

He knew he was wrong according to present law, and he still did it.
He shouldn't have been an activist if he wasn't ready to go to jail.

Prosecutor performed an extortion: take 6 months in jail and proclaim you are guilty, or we ruin you financially (lawyers over few years add up) and you may go to jail for 35 years - but you get ruined financially either way.

The prosecutor, I believe, was appointed to office by Obama. Now there is a whitehouse petition with over 30k votes to have her fired.
I see this as a clash between law and technology.

[This name sucks]

Bullshit. Facing the consequences of your actions takes more courage. This guy decided to take the coward's way out.

What is honorable about wasting away in prison for the prime of your life and stripped of all your possessions.

Also, while you might think its a cowards way, most people disagree.

He became just another martyr that will be referenced to when the broken ass copyright/IP/abusing government thing finally topples over. The way its going is unsustainable and every year for the last decade numerous strategies to finally gain control over the wild internet have been employed.

How many countries in the last 5 years have had revolutions fuelled by the internet and the communication it enables. Those numbers scare the shit out of the US, UK, etc. They're all terrified because organization is power and that is what the internet provides.

[Orlong]

I didn't realize spreading the wealth of information humanity possesses was a worse crime than......

Spreading the wealth of information including trade secrets paid for by private companies that dispersing could affect earning potential of the companies should absolutely be prosecuted with stiff penalties

[someotherguy]

Agree with it or not, he broke the law. He knew the consequences of what he was doing and apparently he couldn't handle them. Was he a genius? Yes. But that still doesn't change the fact he did something illegal, and didn't want to face up to it. I think he should have faced it in court and tried to make his stand. Instead the government can now sweep as much of it under the rug as they can from the general public.

I'll quote someone from different forums:

You did wrong, so we are going to nuke you.

He was being charged for 35 years.
Lets say a guy tapes NFL and than shows it to his buddies - that's illegal, should that guy go to jail for 35 years? Yes - because we nuke him, right?

[Harry Botter]

To be honest. I thought this would be about Al Gore when I first saw the title. And to be fair Adam didn't invent the internet or a modern version or whatever you call it. Greatly changing how something works is not inventing, but that doesn't mean he was not a genius.

---------- Post added 2013-01-15 at 07:20 PM ----------

I'll quote someone from different forums:



He was being charged for 35 years.
Lets say a guy tapes NFL and than shows it to his buddies - that's illegal, should that guy go to jail for 35 years? Yes - because we nuke him, right?

So you are saying he should not have been prepared to face the consequences for what he did? No matter how justifiable his actions were, he still broke the law. Just like if I choose to smoke weed, I know I run the risk of getting into trouble by the law. Also the NFL example is just stupid. Laws they haven't enforced pretty much at all in years is just not a good comparison.

[rhorle]

But now he's dead, from government persecution, not even the universities that he stole from.

This may be falling on deaf ears because I sense an anti-government bias. But he died for Suicide. The only one that controls that is the person involved and not anyone else. His own lawyer warned that he was suicidal a year ago. You can't blame the government for a person not getting help for their own mental health issues.

If they didn't pursue legal matters against him for digital theft, how could they against anyone else? Just because he participated in creating something he should get immunity? He clearly had mental health issues or he never would have committed suicide. He clearly didn't have anyone around him who cared enough to help him (which likely lead to HIS decision) since even his lawyer who saw him as suicidal a year ago didn't get him to change.

[someotherguy]

So you are saying he should not have been prepared to face the consequences for what he did? No matter how justifiable his actions were, he still broke the law. Just like if I choose to smoke weed, I know I run the risk of getting into trouble by the law. Also the NFL example is just stupid. Laws they haven't enforced pretty much at all in years is just not a good comparison.

I wrote response to this before you asked it
here's a link to a couple of posts higher: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...1#post19844864