The Internet's Own Boy

2014 • 104 minutes

About this movie

A dynamic and tragic portrait of the life of Reddit co-founder and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, a champion of open access who grew up to lead the internet community into a new age of data sharing and free speech.

Ratings and reviews

Like all good documentaries this one makes you think, think about the future of the internet, the future of information that demands to be free and about the dark days of prosecutorial overreach that impinges on our freedoms: all this while detailing the inspiring life of Aaron Swartz from his early days as a little kid working alongside the pioneers of blogging and social media on the spec for RSS to his championing of the fight against SOPA and PIPA.

I can't stress enough how important it is for this story is to be told, and it's warnings heeded. This isn't a happy-go-lucky documentary about the amazing journey of a person (Go watch Tim's Vermeer for that), it's a dark, horrifyingly tragic story of one of the most brilliant and potentially influential people of my generation. And he was pushed to suicide by those who fear change and have a vested financial interest in keeping the old world. Please watch, share, and support Aaron's Law.

As a member of the generation of individuals who grew enormously in intellectual capacity through internet access, I am really upset to see that something like this could happen to someone as inspiring as Aaron Swartz. Unfortunately, Aaron Swartz will not be the only victim of injustice in the fight to empower individuals to improve the world through non-destructive means. We are a culture of individuals who must recognize the extent of which evil is pervasive within government and the justice system. Aaron Swartz will not be forgotten.