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Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

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Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#121

Post by mark-r »

danso wrote: post #35

So this is on the OP, which quotes the Lessig post: > For in the 18 months of negotiations, that was what he was not willing to accept, and so that was the reason he was facing a million dollar trial in April — his wealth bled dry, yet unable to appeal openly to us for the financial help he needed to fund his defense, at least without risking the ire of a district court judge. I never understood this assertion. Under…

Presumably the problem wasn't in asking for funds, the problem was in explaining why the funds were necessary. I read a recent story, probably linked here on HN, about how standard procedure for the Justice dept. is to freeze all your funds so you can't afford adequate representation, then dump so much paperwork on you that you have no chance to defend yourself. All of this would have been facts related to the case which the judge could easily gag.

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#122

Post by param »

This is BS. edw519, and most of us, are not politicians. We should be free to believe in something to the best of our knowledge at any time. I have changed my perspective on almost everything I have ever believed in based on what information I come across.

To hold him, or anyone else for that matter, hostage to what he said 120 days ago is dishonest.

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#123

Post by lancewiggs »

Alex3917 wrote: post #98
jacquesm wrote: post #18

Here is the HN thread from back then. Some of it makes for pretty uncomfortable reading right now. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529484

If that makes you uncomfortable then wait until you see this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=79982 "Is Aaron Swartz the Paris Hilton of Web 2.0?"

It's great to see PG leap immediately to the defense of Swartz in that thread, and that the comment was voted to the top.

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#125

Post by MartinCron »

astrodust wrote: post #101
MartinCron wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add "lighten up" and "stop taking things so seriously" to the list of hugely degrading phrases.

It is often difficult to discern between those that will bring excessive drama to any situation and those that are in serious peril.

Even if someone is bringing excessive drama, saying things like "man up" isn't actually helpful.

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#126

Post by detst »

jacquesm wrote: post #106
astrodust wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is often difficult to discern between those that will bring excessive drama to any situation and those that are in serious peril.

The disconnect here is a simple one: how big a peril Aaron was in was not communicated clearly or effectively on the page asking for help. Apparently this was because of some legal constraints. I think that's what threw a lot of people on the wrong track entirely. Had they been in the possession of the full set of facts I'm pretty sure they would have reacted differently. See the page for yourself: https://free.aaron…

> Even so, these careless and unfounded words must have hurt tremendously, much more so than had nothing been said at all.

It angers me to think that HN could have contributed in any way to the dark place Aaron ended up reaching. More so because many of those comments bothered me at the time and I neither knew Aaron nor the severity of the situation. They were unwarranted even in absence of the full story.

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#127

Post by staunch »

It must have been hard on him to see his peers throwing him to the wolves. I think he could have tried harder to appeal to the hacker community, or maybe he couldn't for legal reasons, and that's yet another travesty revealed here.

His case was muddy. He did a few things that most of us would never do without expecting to be punished. He deserved a slap on the wrist, not to be robbed of his assets and locked up for years.

I think HN would have rallied to his cause after we realized how disproportionate the punishment was. I remember personally thinking things seemed weird, but was naively optimistic that it would turn out fine.

Lesson learned, the very hard way: it can't hurt to rally around someone even if they're not 100% in the right, if it looks like they're being bullied.

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#128

Post by jacquesm »

Alex3917 wrote: post #98
jacquesm wrote: post #18

Here is the HN thread from back then. Some of it makes for pretty uncomfortable reading right now. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529484

If that makes you uncomfortable then wait until you see this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=79982 "Is Aaron Swartz the Paris Hilton of Web 2.0?"

I think the person writing that has visited HN again in the last couple of days.

> I wonder what Swartz will be like when he's 40.

...

Re: Aaron Swartz, Asking For Help, 119 Days Ago

#130

Post by waterlesscloud »

lancewiggs wrote: post #123
Alex3917 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that makes you uncomfortable then wait until you see this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=79982 "Is Aaron Swartz the Paris Hilton of Web 2.0?"

It's great to see PG leap immediately to the defense of Swartz in that thread, and that the comment was voted to the top.

The top reply to pg in that thread is dcurtis, and should maybe give everyone concerned a bit of a pause.

EDIT- dcurtis says Aaron is egotistical in his blog posts, as a comment on a post that asks what Aaron has ever done. The parallel to recent threads about dcurtis is eerie, to be honest. It's jarring enough that it should make everyone on all sides of that issue take a step back and get some perspective.

As pg says in that thread, egotism is a common flaw in bright youths. Perhaps some...not tolerance exactly, as guidance away from the flaw is a reasonable response, but maybe a realization that it's to be expected. And in the big picture, maybe it shouldn't really count much against them anyway.

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