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markpkessinger

(8,381 posts)
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 07:40 PM Jun 2014

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (full documentary)

Last edited Mon Jun 30, 2014, 03:29 AM - Edit history (1)

The complete documentary about the extraordinary life and tragic death of Aaron Swarts, "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz" is now available for viewing on YouTube.

Synopsis (from IMdb):

The Internet's Own Boy follows the story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz's help in the development of the basic internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit, his fingerprints are all over the internet. But it was Swartz's groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two-year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26. Aaron's story touched a nerve with people far beyond the online communities in which he was a celebrity.


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The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (full documentary) (Original Post) markpkessinger Jun 2014 OP
How about a little synopsis Pharaoh Jun 2014 #1
He Committed Suicide In The Face Of Extreme Pressure From The Obama Administration For Supposed Cyber Crimes cantbeserious Jun 2014 #2
Thank You CBS Pharaoh Jun 2014 #3
I've added a synopsis to the OP, and here is the NY Times' review of the film markpkessinger Jun 2014 #5
who knew the death of a bright light could be traced back to george w bush zebonaut Jun 2014 #4
Bush? markpkessinger Jun 2014 #6
enforcing laws created by the Patriot Act zebonaut Jun 2014 #8
Actually, Swartz was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 . . . markpkessinger Jun 2014 #10
What a tragic, and unjust loss. PotatoChip Jun 2014 #7
K&R ReRe Jun 2014 #9

markpkessinger

(8,381 posts)
5. I've added a synopsis to the OP, and here is the NY Times' review of the film
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 03:46 AM
Jun 2014
[font size=5]A Prodigious Beginning, Then an Early Ending[/font]
[font size=3]‘The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz’[/font] | [font color="gray"]NYT Critics' Pick

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS JUNE 26, 2014[/font]

Moving and maddening in almost equal measure, Brian Knappenberger’s “The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz” is a devastating meditation on what can happen when a prescient thinker challenges corporate interests and the power of the state.

Though unapologetically partial to his subject, an idealistic computer genius who committed suicide in 2013 at 26, Mr. Knappenberger keeps his images simple and allows his facts to take precedence. Clips of Mr. Swartz in home movies and at speaking engagements chart his growth from child prodigy to Internet crusader who believed that the contents of public-interest databases should be freely available to all. Detailed in his Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto, this ethos would lead to his 2011 arrest based on charges that he downloaded millions of journal articles from a subscription-only online service — or, in the words of the writer Cory Doctorow, “for taking too many books out of the library.”

Making room for the moral and philosophical underpinnings of freedom of information, and questioning the motives of its opponents, the film’s many contributors — including family, friends and experts like Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web — generate a “how could this happen?” tone that feels agonizingly appropriate. None more so than the writer Quinn Norton, who’s commendably candid about (and clearly still haunted by) her cooperation with federal prosecutors. Their pursuit of Swartz placed them, she believes, “on the wrong side of history.” Few who watch this film will feel inclined to disagree.


markpkessinger

(8,381 posts)
6. Bush?
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 03:48 AM
Jun 2014

Look, I'm happy to give George W. Bush full credit for every one of his fuck-ups. But Aaron was driven to take his own life as a result of an overzealous Justice Department during the Obama administration!

markpkessinger

(8,381 posts)
10. Actually, Swartz was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 . . .
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 07:55 PM
Jun 2014

. . . which, according to the film, was passed after some in the Reagan administration and some members of Congress got all freaked out over the 1983 Matthew Broderick film, "War Games" (FACEPALM!). The CFAA was an absurdly overbroad piece of legislation, created by people who had little or no real understanding of the technology they were regulating even at that time, let alone in future decades.

PotatoChip

(3,186 posts)
7. What a tragic, and unjust loss.
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 03:51 AM
Jun 2014

I remember this case, but never really knew of the specific issues surrounding it; such as the fact that MIT could have perhaps made a difference had they spoken up. There is so much wrong about what occurred on a number of levels, though.

Just sad. So very sad.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
9. K&R
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 10:06 AM
Jun 2014

Thanks mpk. I sat my butt down and watched the whole film from this OP. Shame on anyone who chooses not to do the same (who hasn't already seen it.) I'll never forget the day. I went outdoors, raised my arms and eyes to heaven and screamed "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy???" His death hung over me for months. I didn't think I would ever get over the loss to the world of this promising, brilliant, kind, & unselfish young man. Seriously everyone, you need to take some time to watch this doc. I learned so much more about the completely senseless prosecution against him.

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