The Death of Gene Kan

In June 2002, a man named Gene Kan died, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  The guy was only 25.  So why should we remember this? 

Because if you’ve ever swapped an MP3 file, you know his work.  Gene was a pioneer in the world of Gnutella programming. 

He took the original protocols and helped develop them into user-friendly file-sharing programs—the kind that were so big in the post-Napster world.  If you remember programs like Bearshare and Limewire, they were both powered by the work Gene did. 

While people remember guys like Sean Fanning and Kim Dotcom, reserve a little space in your music geek memory for Gene Kan.