Twenty-six-year old Internet savant Aaron Swartz committed suicide on Friday. Swartz, who pioneered innovations in RSS feed and helped found Reddit, was under investigation by the the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for hacking into its files as part of his long-standing mission to make online information free. MIT has been criticized for its handling of Swartz’s case, which some viewed as too severe (Swartz was facing up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine). In a statement, MIT president L. Rafael Reif said, “I want to express very clearly that I and all of us at MIT are extremely saddened by the death of this promising young man who touched the lives of so many. It pains me to think that MIT played any role in a series of events that have ended in tragedy” …
