“The Internet’s Own Boy” A Story about Aaron Swartz

The concept of revolutionary campaign against some social, controversial standards is usually undertaken by men with strong vision, passion and unrelenting personality. In the case of Aaron Swarts, he believed he could change the world and indeed, he made a strong impact.

Aaron found it difficult to accept that the public should have to pay to access public information, journals and other public forms of knowledge. His available tool was internet, but above all, his motives are inspiring. Through out the documentary, Aaron could be seen as a missionary for public access to information. Not withstanding how he embarks on this revolution, one thing stands out most for me – his motives. It was not to enrich himself but to make as much information as possible available to the public at no cost.

As controversial as his approach looks, Aaron’s contribution to creative commons, his involvement in the scrap of the SOPA bill speaks to his legacy. According to Aaron, “On the internet, everyone can have a channel, everyone can have a blog, or myspace page, everyone has a way of expressing themselves. And so what you see now is not a question of who gets access to the air waves, it is a question of who get control of the ways you find people.” This is a strong reflection of his passion.

Eventually, towards the end of the documentary the shows how Aaron’s work stands justified – ‘Jack Andraka’s breakthrough pancreatic cancer test would never have come about were it not for access to online journals…’ This documentary sends a strong, long-lasting message!