Breaking News: Billionaire Buys the Rights to Livestream Assisted Suicide of Cancer Patient

This first got my attention earlier this week, when a single news item from Shockya.com showed up in my news feed, titled Assisted Suicide Will Be Broadcast Live on BattleCam:

Billionaire Alki David has paid the family of terminal brain cancer patient Nikolai Ivanisovich for the rights to stream his assisted suicide on BattleCam. The broadcast is slated to air on July 29, 2011 at 9 pm ET from a secret location in Eastern Europe.

Ivanisovich will receive a lethal injection, administered by a physician who has decided to remain anonymous. The doctor doesn’t want their identity revealed because of the “mitigating circumstance and likely media attention this event may generate.”

During an interview held in Russia, Ivanisovich said he’s “grateful to Mr. David and his team for making this possible. My family will be able to live in prosperity after I pass. May God bless Mr. David for his kindness and generosity.”

At the time, I was unable to find any other story verifying this and refrained from posting anything on it.

Yesterday, though, more stories started popping up, starting with a press release.  The release was quickly followed by stories on many entertainment/celebrity/gossip sites.  The story by AVN contained new information:

Though at first the idea of streaming a suicide live on such a platform might seem to be an exploitive and cynical use of new technology, as David tells it, the idea did not originate with him but with the Ivanisovich family.

“Originally, I was approached by one of my staff to help Nikolai out with medical expenses,” he told AVN. “I did so. We exchanged some emails and that was it. Once his health started to deteriorate his wife Uryna asked me to pay for his assisted end of life. It was her suggestion in fact that we stream it. So I agreed. Most of the great ideas on BattleCam come from the community on it.”

In an interview conducted in Russia, where he lives, Ivanisovish said he was “grateful to Mr. David and his team for making this possible. My family will be able to live in prosperity after I pass. May God bless Mr. David for his kindness and generosity.”

A little more from Mr. David at the end of the article:

In a sense, it seems the decision to stream the suicide engages three of David’s main interests. The initial impetus was to help a family in need, but it was also an opportunity to provide an “interesting spectacle” to viewers of BattleCam while fulfilling David’s conception of BattleCam as a “social experiment.”

The site, he said, “generates zero revenue, and even though I have developed some interesting ideas to commercialize it, it is really just my favorite toy. It is here forever. All the members of BattleCam make the site interesting and compelling and it really has grown into a fascinating community. Cynics would say [it is populated by] degenerates and low lifes, but I totally disagree. Not only do I know some very influential and even famous people who frequent BC incognito, but comments like that put me in the same group!”

Still, the all-too-human issues that surround the live streaming of an assisted suicide are not lost on David, who responded affirmatively when asked whether he would consider similar pleas that might come his way.

“I am open to similar requests, sure!” he told AVN.

Most of the news coverage and commentary gives at least a token nod as to whether or not streaming the live suicide of someone at a Swiss clinic is a good idea.

In retrospect, this is a perfectly natural development.  The American news magazine show 60 Minutes televised the taped killing of Thomas Youk via a series of injections given by Jack Kevorkian.  Recently, author and euthanasia campaigner Terry Pratchett produced a film that included  the death of Peter Smedley at a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.  It was aired on the BBC.

But these were taped, which I guess lacks the “thrill” of viewing such a thing live.

But I think the conversation about the “new ground” being broken is a less important issue than another groundbreaking issue.  Alki David is paying Nikolai Ivanisovich and his family for the right of live-streaming his suicide – enough so that Mr. Ivanisovich says his family “will be able to live in prosperity” after he dies.  Of course, that prosperity is contingent on his committing suicide – I suspect if Mr. Ivanisovich changed his mind, there would be no generous payment coming from Mr. Alki David.  No pressure there. (yes, that’s sarcasm)

According to Wikipedia, The 2011 Times Rich List named Mr. David 45th richest Man in the UK.  So when he says he would consider similar offers – to have people commit suicide in front of a live internet audience – we should take him seriously.

There’s also no reason to think that it will stop with terminally ill people killing themselves at clinics in Switzerland.  Frankly, I think the Battlecam folks are used to more spectacle than watching people get a needle in the arm and then nod off into a deep, albeit final, sleep.

I mean, really, what’s next?  Watching the live suicide of someone using the Oregon assisted suicide law?  How about paying someone to use a plastic bag and helium to commit suicide?  That’s a bit more spectacle.

When you come right down to it, why do any people who offer to have their suicides filmed have to be old or sick or disabled?  There are many people who would be willing to kill themselves if they could assure “prosperity” for their families.

Since suicide isn’t illegal, it could be that, even in the US, it isn’t illegal to pay someone who wants to commit suicide for the privilege of livestreaming their death.  Alki David could even use a sliding scale for payment.  Pill overdoses would get a generous amount, but those who volunteered to suicide through the use of a gun or by hanging would haul in the big bucks for their survivors.

Sound ludicrous?  Think on this.  Alki David is a billionaire who loves creating spectacles.  And as for the venue of BattleCam, part of the official definition of the site is “the live interactive reality television channel and community of FilmOn.com.”

If anyone was curious where reality shows could be headed, it would appear that Mr. David is prepared to lead the way.  –Stephen Drake