[✌➬]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/1..._n_145499.html

[Kegmama]

I was reading this earlier today...So sad.

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida teenager committed suicide by drug overdose in front of a webcam streaming live video to the Internet and some viewers may have egged him on, authorities said on Friday.

Abraham Biggs Jr., 19, was found in the bedroom of his home in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Wednesday and an autopsy showed he died of a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat anxiety and insomnia, the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office said.

"We have ruled it a suicide. Part of the terminal event was recorded on a website and there was streaming video," said Dr. Steve Cina, deputy chief medical examiner of Broward County....

[deflinus]

fucked up. it's always so weird to me how obsessed teens are about the net. posting, updating every single thing they do. "whats the point of doing it if no one can see it or see that you did it"

[✌➬]

It is sad that people get like this. However this generation is an attention-getter type.

[GeneticKiss]

Kids have always been attention-getters. The internet just gives a greater opportunity for greater attention.

[schizophrenicroom]

fucking florida.

[Kloriel]

replace them with ibex then?

[cryptowonderdruginvogue]

lol he lived in florida

what a nerd

[uhler]

that's what florida will do to you.

[davenotdead]

this is the 21st century.

man

[Kloriel]

it could be worse. the person could have slain them self on an ibex

[Alex's Trip]

The article says nothing of why he actually killed himself, other than being a manic depressive. I wanna know why.

[ALIEN ANAL]

it only just happened alex

[Alex's Trip]

I know. Doesn't change the fact that I wanna know why he did it.

I wonder if it was a completely unexpected thing. I know his sister said it was unexpected, but maybe there were problems that they all knew existed but didn't think were serious.

[ploesj]

that's sad, really.

[floatingslowly]

an hero.

[Sonic Youth 37]

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

an hero.

almost 24 hours and still no article, the people at ED have lost their touch.

[GeneticKiss]

It gets worse, from AP:

MIAMI – The father of a college student whose suicide was broadcast live over a webcam said Saturday he was appalled by the virtual audience that egged on his son and called for tougher regulation of Internet sites.
Abraham Biggs Sr. said those who watched and the Web site operators share some blame in his 19-year-old son's death.
"I think they are all equally wrong," he said. "It's a person's life that we're talking about. And as a human being, you don't watch someone in trouble and sit back and just watch."
Police found Abraham Biggs Jr. dead in his father's bed Wednesday, 12 hours after he first declared on the Web site for bodybuilders that he planned to take his own life. He took a fatal drug overdose in front of an Internet audience. Although some viewers contacted the Web site to notify police, authorities did not reach his house in time.
Biggs, who has said he was at work during the episode, said he had not known about his son's online presence.
"I think after this incident and probably other incidents that have occurred in the past, they all point to some kind of regulation is necessary," Biggs said. "I think it is wrong to have this happen for hours without any action being taken from the people in charge. Where were they all the time?"
The younger Biggs posted a link from the Web site to Justin.tv, which allows users to broadcast live with their webcams.
A computer user who claimed to have watched said that after swallowing some pills, Biggs went to sleep and appeared to be breathing for a few hours while others cracked jokes. Some users told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before.
Biggs Sr. said he believes the webcast was a cry for help.
"But rather than get help, he was ignored," Biggs said. "I would not want to see anything like that on the Internet and not try and get help for that young man. I think that's what the average person would do. Any normal person would do. I'm really appalled."
Pembroke Pines Police Department Sgt. Bryan Davis said no new information on the case was available Saturday.
Biggs Sr. said funeral arrangements have not yet been set for his son, who he said loved helping others.
"He was a good kid. Good kid," Biggs Sr. said. "It's a shame I wasn't there to help him. It's a big loss to me. I wish I was there to help him — since nobody else would."
An autopsy concluded Biggs died from a combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, which his family said was prescribed for his bipolar disorder.
"Abe, i still wish this was all a joke," a friend wrote on the teenager's MySpace page.
It is unclear how many people watched it happen. The Web site would not say how many people were watching the broadcast. The site as a whole had 672,000 unique visitors in October, according to Nielsen.
Biggs was not the first person to commit suicide with a webcam rolling. But the drawn-out drama — and the reaction of those watching — was seen as an extreme example of young people's penchant for sharing intimate details about themselves over the Internet.

[pbradley]

The internet seems to be able to bring that low value of third world lives back onto the first world. Can we swallow our own medicine? The internet has become a big Nietzschean cum rag. Apparently the open source community are the only ones coming up with anything valuable with the free exchange of ideas while everyone else is trying to come up with the next lulzy meme or flaming noobs. It often harms my faith in decision-making power of the people.

[ZEROpumpkins]

He became an hero, nothing tragic here. Good riddance.