Aaron Swartz (1986-2013)
I've just watched the recent, riveting documentary The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz on the visionary programmer and political activist who died by his own hand last year after inordinate persecution by the US government. The film is by turns inspiring, frustrating, engaging, and deeply saddening. It's significant to mention both that it will be screened at this year's upcoming New Zealand Film Festival and that the Creative Commons version of the film is freely available for streaming and downloading from the Internet Archive. A must watch for anyone interested in the pursuit of civil liberties, social justice, the freedom of information, and technical innovation.
