In life, Aaron Swartz was a force in shaping the Internet, but a largely unknown one. Within his relatively small Internet community he was an all-star, but to the general public he was simply one computer geek among many.
When Swartz committed suicide at 26 in January 2013, all of that changed. After his death, Swartz became a sort of martyr for Internet activism, and public interest in his life and actions skyrocketed. Director Brian Knappenberger is providing a window into Swartz's life and death with a documentary titled "The Internet's Own Boy."
"On the one hand, it was a very compelling personal story that was just, by itself, inspirational and interesting but, ultimately tragic," Knappenberger said. "Then there's this kind of sharp combination with the issues Aaron was involved in, which are really, really relevant for our time."
In his early teenage years, Swartz worked to create the RSS system. He helped support the Creative Commons system for open sharing of content. At 19, he created his own company, which later helped develop Reddit. These successes brought Swartz money, but they aren't what brought him recognition. Swartz was also a prominent activist, and was one of the organizers of the Internet blackout that was instrumental in shutting down the Stop Online Piracy Act.
It was this activism which got Swartz into trouble. On Jan. 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested. The charges included wire fraud and computer fraud, and in total amounted to a sentence of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines if he was convicted. Swartz had used his authorization as an MIT fellow to download millions of documents from the JSTOR database, which stores academic journals. He wanted to distribute these journals openly over the Internet, giving access to those who couldn't afford the fees needed to access the documents. He was arrested before he got the chance.
Despite the fact JSTOR itself refused to press charges and urged federal prosecutors to drop the case, the prosecutors continued their pursuit of a conviction. Two years later, shortly after his second plea-bargain had been rejected, Swartz was found hanged to death in his apartment.
Swartz's death galvanized the Internet activist community, and brought cries of outrage against the federal prosecutors, the government, and laws that the government is trying to adapt to changing technology.
"The Internet's Own Boy" carries this outrage to a larger audience, telling Swartz's story from the perspective of his friends and family. It never sets out to be an impartial presentation of the issue, with little comment from the other side, but it does succeed in portraying a tragic event with care and respect.
