âThe Internetâs Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartzâ is a documentary detailing the life of Aaron Swartz, an American programmer/hacker/genius. Throughout the film, the audience learns about how Swartzâs campaigning helped to shape the internet, online copyright law, and internet activism. He is hailed as something of a martyr to many involved within the internet open access movement after his suicide in 2013. During that time, Swartz was being charged for downloading an excessive amount of academic papers on JSTOR, as well as breaking into the computer network system of MIT, which was eventually dropped. During the time of his death, Swartz was looking at a potential of 35 years in prison for his âcrimesâ. Through Aaron Swartzâs story, the audience learns many insights into the inherent flaws of the internet, and the corruption that the government imposes on its brightest, most well-meaning citizens.
What is the freedom of information, how far does it extend into our freedom as citizens of the United States, and even our basic human rights? These are all questions that Aaron Swartzâs case brought up for many people as they watched his spiral downward. To many, the right to open information and the access to it sounds like a natural right that should be unquestionably instated within our society. Unfortunately, Swartzâs case proved this untrue. While, yes, there are sites out there that provide free access to information, unfortunately, by clicking âacceptâ on the terms and conditions, we often do not realize what we are getting ourselves into. Aaronâs only mistake on JSTOR was downloading too many academic articles. Never in the terms and conditions was a number specified as âexcessiveâ. This is one inherent flaw of the internet. While the government is busy attempting to keep information a commodity, the legality of the information on the internet is actually in a strange gray area. Until the government can decide what to do with information- either make it completely public, private, or something completely different, the state of the internet is going to be stuck in this state. In the end, the issue is that not only are the lines blurred and completely unclear, but the government itself is undecided what to do with it. How can we, users of the internet, follow the laws when the government doesnât even know whatâs right and wrong?
