P2P Conspiracy?

[Remote_Access_]

Originally posted here.

Gnutella Developer "Commits Suicide"

Gene Kan, one of the key programmers behind the popular file-sharing technology known as Gnutella has died in an apparent suicide, officials said on Tuesday. He was 25.
San Mateo County Coroner spokeswoman Sue Turner said Kan was found last week at his northern California home.

"The cause of death was a perforating gunshot wound to the head," Tuner said. "It was a suicide."

A spokeswoman for Kan said he died on June 29 and was cremated on July 5. Further details were being withheld at the request of the family.

Kan helped develop an open source version of the Gnutella protocol, which marked a further step in popularizing the peer-to-peer file-sharing revolution pioneered by the Napster
song-swapping service.

The Gnutella computer code emerged as Napster's legal problems mounted and its millions of users were looking for new ways to swap songs for free on the Internet.

Kan and a few fellow programmers did not create Gnutella, but tweaked the Gnutella protocol so it could be replicated by other programmers around the world, unleashing massive music, video and software file-sharing.

Kan and his group brought Gnutella into the limelight after an early version of the program was released briefly on the Web by an employee of America Online.

Kan, who came to be known as the unofficial spokesman for Gnutella, often said the technology differed from Napster because it had no company to sue or central computer to shut down.

Unlike Napster, which allowed people to trade songs through centralized computer servers, Gnutella simply transfers files from one personal computer to another -- making it much more difficult to monitor.

In June 2000, Kan started California-based InfraSearch Inc., a peer-to-peer search engine technology company, that eventually attracted high-profile investors such as Netscape alumni Marc Andreessen and Mike Homer.

InfraSearch was acquired by Sun Microsystems in March 2001. Kan also joined the company at that time to work on Sun's peer-to-peer project known as Project JXTA. More recently he had been working on advanced development projects around distributed computing.

"Gene contributed much to the industry, specifically in the peer-to-peer space," Sun said in the statement. "Gene brought new ideas to the organization and stretched our thinking. Gene was a trusted friend and colleague, and we will miss him greatly."

Kan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley's College of Engineering, in 1997 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science.

Dose anyone else smell a conspiracy? A young guy ay 25 yrs old, graduated from Berkley, and has degrees in electrical engineering and comp. science.. Then he decides to throw away years of hard work and shoot himself in the head. What's wrong with this picture?

[cwk9]

Thats sad.

Dose anyone else smell a conspiracy? A young guy ay 25 yrs old, graduated from Berkley, and has degrees in electrical engineering and comp. science.. Then he decides to throw away years of hard work and shoot himself in the head. What's wrong with this picture?

Suicide rates are a lot different that most people would anticipate the bum on the street is just as likely to off himself as the guy driving the bmw. Wealth, power offer no Protection from societal disintegration

http://www.kaffeine.freeuk.com/korner/suicide.htm

[avdven]

Sounds kinda like "AntiTrust"... If another father of P2P suddenly passes away, we better try to sue Hollywood for releasing AntiTrust 'cuz it's giving corporations an idea to deal with their competition.

AJ

[alittlebitnumb]

A young guy ay 25 yrs old, graduated from Berkley, and has degrees in electrical engineering and comp. science.. Then he decides to throw away years of hard work and shoot himself in the head. What's wrong with this picture?

It is a horrible tragedy it happened to the guy. As a victim of suicide (my dad), it can be far reaching and very complex on why things like this materialize. For a long time, my dad would say little things like "I wish I were dead" or "It's better on the other side" or "It is not worth it anymore" and he was an engineer, pilot and teacher for the high school with a good rep. Then the reasons why he wanted to commit suicide became clear: He held secrets for many years that hurt himself and others... so my guess is, if this was a suicide, it might have stemmed from something complex or something not everybody knows about other than him.

Otherwise, if it was a murder, then the questins get really interesting.

At this point only time can tell.

[Remote_Access_]

Well alittlebitnumb, you have my condolences as well as the friends/family of Gene Kan. It may have been suicide but I for one cannot comprehend why some one would commit suicide. It just astonishes me.. You're right, if it was a murder, then the questions really get interesting.

[Isellcrack4FBI]

[QUOTE ]The cause of death was a perforating gunshot wound to the head," Tuner said. "It was a suicide[/QUOTE] What a loser!

Dose anyone else smell a conspiracy? A young guy ay 25 yrs old, graduated from Berkley, and has degrees in electrical engineering and comp. science.. Then he decides to throw away years of hard work and shoot himself in the head. What's wrong with this picture

Do I think it's a conspiracy NO ! What I think it is this lamer killed himself over some chicken head bit*& lol what a dumbass! Here's a tip for people like him either play or get played hahahahahaaha

[MidNyte]

I agree that it is strange he killed himself and my first thought was that he was murdered, however what would killing him accomplish? The codes been released, and he worked with a team of coders not just by him self.... However this smells very fishy!

[djduotang]

Wow that gives you alot yo think about