Documentary about computer prodigy Aaron Swartz whose work developing protocols on the internet to his co-founding of social news site Reddit, made him a pioneer in the industry. However, when he became involved in the areas of social justice and information retrieval, he soon found himself in a damaging legal battle with the authorities.
In January 2013, Aaron Swartz hanged himself after federal prosecutors refused to plea-bargain over his conviction for 11 violations of the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The co-founder of the social news site Reddit faced 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine for using the MIT computer network to download millions of documents from the JSTOR digital library. Thanks to Swartz's martyr status within the internet community, documentarist Brian Knappenberger has little trouble finding interviewees who will denounce the US Justice Department for seeking to make an example of the 26-year-old after JSTOR dropped all charges. Knappenberger had already explored the world of hacktivism in We Are Legion (2012), but here he places equal emphasis on Swartz's decision to turn his back on billions of dollars, to devote himself instead to the causes of freedom of information, government transparency and social justice. At times, the movie comes close to hagiography. But the archive clips reveal Swartz to have been sincere, clear-thinking and selfless. And therein lies the real tragedy of his early, hounded demise.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Aaron Swartz | Aaron Swartz |
| Tim Berners-Lee | Tim Berners-Lee |
| Cory Doctorow | Cory Doctorow |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Brian Knappenberger |
