Aaron Swartz
Last weekend, Sunday the 2nd November 2014, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s ABC 2 Channel aired the documentary The Internets Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz. This documentary is in LF’s opinion must watch viewing and as such we felt it important to bring it to the attention of our readers. For those who have never heard of Aaron Swartz it is the story of the events that lead to his tragic suicide in January 2013 at the very young age of just 26 years. It’s the story of a computor programming prodigy, internet freedom campaigner and information activist, who dared to challange corporate America, politicians and the United States Government, a young man who as a result was then subjected to unimaginable persecution and prosecutorial abuse by the Obama administration.
“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. This film is a personal story about what we lose when we are tone deaf about technology and its relationship to our civil liberties.”
Source: http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy
If you are in Australia then the film can be accessed via ABC iView (until 16th November 2014) where the best quality viewing is available, access via the url – http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/internets-own-boy-the-story-of-aaron-swartz/
Alternatively if you reside outside Australia (the ABC is Geo specific) or are reading this post after November 16th when the ABC version will no longer be available then you will need to watch the Youtube hosted version embedded below.