Aaron Swartz—an Internet activist, hacker, author and programmer who created the web-feed format RSS—committed suicide at age 26, according to Advocate.com .
MSNBC.com reported that "at the time of his death Aaron was being prosecuted by the federal government and threatened with up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines for the crime of ... downloading too many free articles from the online database of [digital library] JSTOR."
Swartz, who battled depression, had both male and female lovers; he refused to label himself as bisexual or gay because, according to his blog, "Having sex with other people of your gender isn't an identity, it's an act."
Swartz's funeral was held Jan. 15 at Central Avenue Synagogue in Highland Park, Ill., according to Advocate.com .
