The Internet's Own Boy: The Story Of Aaron Swartz

Brian Knappenberger's latest, The Internet's Own Boy is a profile on Aaron Swartz, a name you may not know but have absolutely felt the presence of in your Internet life. At 14, he invented RSS. Yes, seriously. He also was a leading force in the stance against SOPA and helped to spearhead the ongoing battle with Net Neutrality. Oh, and he also co-founded Reddit. He was a masterful programmer, a thoughtful person and just a brilliant mind in general.

His story is sad one, as he took his own life at the age of 26 due to legal battles involving his procurement of a lot of academic journals. Not distribution mind you, just procurement. It goes without saying, it's sad. However, it's also equally inspiring. Doing something with an impact on the world is possible, you just have to do it.

The movie is available for free (legally) on archive.org as Swartz was one of the minds that helped shaped Creative Commons.