I had no idea that James Dolan was involved with SecureDrop! - all the documentation I found mentioned Kevin Poulsen and was about it being called DeadDrop originally with the name changed to Strongbox on release. I did wonder if they were the same platform, but didn't look into it extensively.
The coincidences are striking. There are so many confounding variables, including Dolan's likely PTSD, and the possibility of social contagion of suicide (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207262/).
So yet another confounding variable is (a) shared psychological trait(s) that draws people (especially young men?) into hacktivism but also renders them vulnerable to suicidal ideation. From my armchair, it definitely seems that for both Swartz and James, the idea of serving any jail time was absolutely untenable. They seem to share a first principal / unconditional value of living freely / on one's own terms.
And yet another confounding variable is the federal government's willingness / insistence on penalizing cybercrime to the fullest extent of the law. That late aughts/early 2010s period (think Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Anonymous, Wikileaks, etc.) was a key period for strangling hacktivism in the crib.
Yes, too many confounding variables to tell in these cases, and certainly facing jail time would be very depressing. For the record, I am not suicidal :).
Great piece. I'm currently reading Whitney Webb's book, which includes lots of examples of suicides/ "suicided." I have to wonder now every time there is a "suicide." https://nypost.com/2018/01/27/these-hackers-suicides-are-eerily-similar/
I had no idea that James Dolan was involved with SecureDrop! - all the documentation I found mentioned Kevin Poulsen and was about it being called DeadDrop originally with the name changed to Strongbox on release. I did wonder if they were the same platform, but didn't look into it extensively.
The coincidences are striking. There are so many confounding variables, including Dolan's likely PTSD, and the possibility of social contagion of suicide (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207262/).
Another hacker, Jonathan James, who was anticipating prosecution by the same US attorney who prosecuted Aaron Swartz (Stephen Heymann), also committed suicide back in 2008. The Wired article is behind a paywall (https://www.wired.com/2009/07/hacker-3/) but a lot of other sources point to this reporting by Buzzfeed (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/justinesharrock/internet-activists-prosecutor-linked-to-another-h).
So yet another confounding variable is (a) shared psychological trait(s) that draws people (especially young men?) into hacktivism but also renders them vulnerable to suicidal ideation. From my armchair, it definitely seems that for both Swartz and James, the idea of serving any jail time was absolutely untenable. They seem to share a first principal / unconditional value of living freely / on one's own terms.
And yet another confounding variable is the federal government's willingness / insistence on penalizing cybercrime to the fullest extent of the law. That late aughts/early 2010s period (think Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Anonymous, Wikileaks, etc.) was a key period for strangling hacktivism in the crib.
Yes, too many confounding variables to tell in these cases, and certainly facing jail time would be very depressing. For the record, I am not suicidal :).
When I first learned about Aaron Swartz a few years ago he was a motivating reason for me to go back to school to become a librarian 🥲
ALA -James Madison Award in 2013.
https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/aaron-swartz
There was a Memorial resolution passed by ALA in January 2013.
2013 ALA Memorial #5
2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting
A Memorial Resolution Honoring Aaron Swartz
Whereas the American Library Association (ALA) and the broader community of those who support open
access to published materials lost a valued colleague on January 11, 2013, with the tragic death of 26-
year-old Aaron Swartz;
Whereas Aaron Swartz was a tireless and outspoken advocate of intellectual freedom and the rights of
individuals to freely access information;
Whereas he was a team member of Creative Commons, a group that simplifies access to free copyright licenses
for authors;
Whereas Aaron Swartz founded the organization Demand Progress, which campaigned against the "Stop
Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act, thus contributing to the failure of the legislation;
Whereas the international library community lost a leader who was the chief architect of Open Library.org –
an online project that fostered collaboration with librarians and intended to “…build the world’s greatest
library, then put it up on the Internet free for all to use...” according to Swartz in a 2007 announcement of
the project;
Whereas Aaron Swartz was a member of a group that co-authored RSS 1.0 (also known as Really Simple
Syndication) – a widely used Internet-based tool that enables publishers and users the ability to syndicate
and/or manage digital data from multiple source points;
Whereas he helped to create Reddit, Inc – a social news and entertainment site which holds the distinction of
being the first social media site to be used by a sitting United States President (President Barack Obama)
to engage with voters in a live online question and answer session;
Whereas Aaron Swartz was dedicated to the exploration and understanding of ethics, political action, and how
to apply knowledge to improving people's lives, as demonstrated by his 2010-2011 tenure as a fellow at
the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics ;
Whereas Aaron Swartz was loved and respected by his family, friends, co-workers, and many individuals,
both in the United States and around the world; and
Whereas his true legacy lies in the profound effect that he had on countless individuals and institutions to
engage in critical conversations regarding the importance of open access and the dissolving of internet
censorship; now therefore, be it
A Memorial Resolution Honoring Aaron Swartz/2
Resolved, that the American Library Association (ALA) on behalf of its members;
1. recognizes the significant contributions of Aaron Swartz over the course of his distinguished
career and mourns his death;
2. expresses its sincere sympathy to his family, loved ones, and colleagues throughout the country,
and his many friends and admirers both within and outside of the library community; and
3. encourages libraries and librarians to remain vigilant in protecting and extending the public
domain, and to promoting and developing new means of providing access to and openly
disseminating information.
Adopted by the Council of the American Library Association
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
In Seattle, Washington
Keith Michael Fiels
ALA Executive Director and Secretary of the ALA Counci