Gainesville-based tech luminary Josh Greenberg, the co-founder of now-defunct music-sharing platform Grooveshark, has been found dead at the age of 28.
The internet is in mourning as news has spread of Greenberg's death, which, it is reported by The Gainesville Sun, was discovered at home on Sunday evening (US time) by his girlfriend, Abby Mayer, who found the former chief technology officer in their bed after returning home from a weekend away.
According to his mother, Lori, police have communicated that "there was no evidence of injuries or drugs" in relation to Greenberg's death, and that medical examiners had been unable to find a cause, telling The Gainesville Sun, "They are as baffled as I am."
Gainesville Police report that Mayer "had never known [Greenberg] to be sick, and he was not prescribed any medication".
Greenberg founded Grooveshark with fellow Florida University student Sam Tarantino in 2006, when they were both 19 years old. The company became massively popular online with consumers, but frequently ran afoul of record companies over copyright disputes, given the majority of its content was not licensed by rights holders.
According to Rolling Stone, Greenberg was also active in the Gainesville tech community, helping to start the Gainesville Dev Academy, and acting as a founding member of the Gainesville Technology Council, under the direction of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce.
Grooveshark was brought down for good in April this year, when the company reached a settlement with Universal, Sony and Warner labels over an alleged $US17 billion in copyright infringements.
However, as The Gainesville Sun clarifies, there is no indication the outcome of the case was a factor in Greenberg's death. "He was excited about potential new things that he was going to start," Lori Greenberg told the paper.
