Aaron Swartz: A Beacon Extinguished By The U.S Government, & The Documentary That Was Made - But Wasn't
“Growing-up I slowly had this process of realising that all the things around me that people had told me were just the natural way things were - the way things always would be - they weren’t natural at all. They were things that could be changed & they were things that, more importantly, were wrong & should change. & once I realised that, there was really kinda no going back”
Aaron Swartz
1986 ~ 2013
Aaron Swartz was a computer programming prodigy & activist
He died when he was 26 years old.
Some describe him as a ‘hacktivist’. Wikipedia describe him as an ‘entrepreneur’. I’d say the latter, if applicable, would not be in the usual sense of the word. Yes Aaron set up many companies, but not for the reasons that a lot of folks, who call themselves ‘entrepreneurs’, have their fingers in many pies.
Aaron was passionate about freedom of information & speech - for all. Fairness & decency fuelled him. He played an instrumental role in the campaign for a free & open Internet using technology to fight social, corporate & political injustice.
I won’t mention his achievements as a child, the impact he made as an adult, or the effect his death had [& still has]. That’s because I’d really like you to see the documentary. It left me quite moved, & feeling immensely proud of Aaron - even though I’’d never met him & have only recently found out about him.
I’ve added the 2 minute trailer first for you. If you watch or have already seen the full documentary, please do share your thoughts in the comments.
The Story Of Aaron Swartz - The Internet’s own Boy
Trailer:
Full Documentary:
[On Rumble & Internet Archive]
Some of the things mentioned in documentary:
RSS listing on Wikipedia [look for mention of Aaron]
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine [Aaron’s ‘theme song’]
Aaron announces watchdog.net on his blog
PACER - a massive database of US court documents, which you have to register to use it [giving your name address, date of birth, phone number, email & ‘user type’]. You also have to pay for any documents you wish to view [pricing is here]. Apparently the government make approximately $120m a year from charging people to access public records.
How We Stopped SOPA [2012]
“And he was right, 3 more times they have tried and 3 more times we have stopped them. They are trying again right now with Title X. Even with Aaron dead, or especially with Aaron now dead, we must remain vigilant and honor his name and sacrifice. Net Neutrality is finally within our grasp, let’s bring it home, FOR AARON!”
Internet Archive / Wayback Machine
[Internet Archive Onion address via Tor: archivep75mbjunhxc6x4j5mwjmomyxb573v42baldlqu56ruil2oiad.onion]
“Think deeply about things. Don’t just go along because that’s the way things are, or that’s what your friends say. Consider the effects, consider the alternatives. But most importantly, just think
~ Aaron Swartz ~
Additional reading & viewing:
We Can Change The World - Interview with Spunout [2010]
From Hacker News - November 2021:
“It doesn't as get much attention, but Aaron was working a lot on a lot of pro-democracy anti-corruption money-out-of-politics activism in his latter years, founding "Change Congress" with Lessig, which later became "Rootstrikers", an organization focused on eradicating dark money in politics”
FBI Secretly Collected Data on Aaron Swartz Earlier Than We Thought—in a Case Involving Al Qaeda [Click to see what you get]
So we submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records on Aaron. As per their usual, the FBI refused to comply, so we sued. We got some documents, as did Kevin Poulsen, but we knew the FBI had more.
Two of the FBI documents obtained can be viewed & downloaded here & here.
🎥 Killswitch [2014]
Are Swartz and Snowden cautionary tales against taking on power, or the sparks that will ignite a revolution to redefine democracy in the digital age?
The Disappearing Documentary
In ‘The Internet’s Own Boy’ there are clips of Aaron being Interviewed in 2012, taken from a film called ‘War For The Web’. It’s apparently the last footage of him before his death. Here is an 8 minute clip from the film ….
22 Jan 2013
These excerpts are part of the documentary War for the Web. We met Aaron Swartz in spring of 2012 at the Freedom 2 Connect conference in Washington D.C. As one of the keynote speakers, he told his story about how he and a group of passionate Internet users rose up against a Goliath of government and corporate interests to defeat the infamous SOPA/PIPA bill. [You can watch his full speech here].
With calm understated confidence, Aaron reminded all of us of the power we have within ourselves to effect change in the system. After his speech, we approached Aaron to ask him if he would be willing to share his thoughts with us in our documentary about past, present and endangered future of the Internet. Like he was with so many others, Aaron was incredibly open and generous with his time. He gave us our first official interview for our film, and we know that “War for the Web” will be that much better because of his wisdom and knowledge. We share with you some unedited excerpts of Aaron’s insights, in which he discusses growing up in the age of the Internet, the importance of the freedom of speech and access to information, and how we as individuals are responsible for the future of the Internet.
Rest in Peace, Aaron.
J. Cameron Brueckner, Ben Caspi, Michael Wooldridge
Producers, War for the Web
War For The Web [Trailer]:
Declan McCullagh wrote in an article, published in April of 2013, that the documentary film was due to be completed later that year.
If you do a search you will find plenty of references to the the film, promo images with the cast & crew listed, plus the running time & the trailer. Also folks asking when & where they can see the film in the comments. But there is no film to be found.
This 'review' is on IMDb:
… If the film was never made, why do things like this pop up if you click on a few links of a search?:
Why did the producers of the film make reference to it in the notes of the 8 minute video of Aaron above? Plus, why are there videos of half the cast members being interviewed for said film on the War For The Web YouTube page?
Clips from the videos are in the trailer for the film. The name of the YouTube channel appears to have been altered [War For The Web is not one word in the video titles]. The content of warfortheweb.com isn’t what it used to be either, & if you search for ‘documentary’, ’film’ or ‘Arron Swartz’ on there - you get nothing:
… Strange that eh? I then went to check something about Aaron on Reddit - which of course Aaron founded - via a link, & was greeted with this:
…… Oh the irony.
January 2013
“Aaron dead.
Hackers for right, we are down one.
Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep.”
Tim Berners-Lee
[Inventor of the World Wide Web]