Aaron Swartz was a revolutionary thinker and an innovator who had a passion for tech and social justice. He was the co-founder of the famous news aggregation website Reddit.com, as well as the developer of the RSS web feed format. His work has left lasting traces all over the web, and his impact on tech is undeniable.
Tragically, however, his story ended in tragedy due to a legal battle which stemmed from him systematically downloading academic journal articles from JSTOR. This resulted in Aaron being arrested by MIT police on January 6th of 2011, and facing charges such as $1 million fine and up to 35 years in prison. Ultimately, this battle with the law led to Aaron taking his own life at just 26 years old.
This tragedy highlights the importance of social justice, tech innovation, and freedom of expression – topics which are explored in greater depth in a recent documentary called The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz. The film chronicles all aspects of Aaron’s life; from his childhood tinkering with computers to his later political activism and legal battles leading up to his death. It also features experts discussing issues related to privacy rights online, computer crime laws, internet censorship, hacktivism, corporate power and much more.
For anyone looking for a comprehensive look into Aaron Swartz’s life’s work – as well as an exploration into larger conversations surrounding freedom of expression online – then this documentary is absolutely essential viewing. It offers an important insight into how our world has been shaped by these struggles today and serves as a reminder that we must continue fighting for what is right even if it means putting ourselves at risk or facing seemingly insurmountable odds.
