Aaron Swartz, Information is Power…
Aaron Swartz, the protagonist of film The Internet’s own boy
Aaron Swartz was said to be an Internet genius, with him getting in touch with computer at his age of two, Aaron created something like Wikipedia when he was twelve. Just like other gifted students, educational institute was not enough for him to fulfill his own curiosity, despite such institute being Stanford. However, with that being said, he was being charged for committing a series of cyber crime and finally committed suicide in 2013.
In My Opinion…
I always believe that some people just don’t belong in this world, such as Jesus, Mozart, Van Gogh, or Aaron Swartz. His sudden death doesn’t make me feel surprise, but it makes me feel pathetic, not because that we lost a genius mind in this era, or because we lost one campaign member who fights for information freedom, but because that his death actually, in some way, revealed the dark side of this world. To be more specific, just as the film depicted, the government charged Aaron Swartz with the utmost gravity. He was being charged for almost thirteen types of crime, which included information fraud, computer fraud, invade the protected computer, etc. and with jail time of possibly thirty-five year and millions and millions of dollars. After JSTOR, the company that Aaron is having issues with, withdrew their charge toward Aaron, the government still insisted that Aaron was indeed guilty.
Why so serious?
What did he do so that the government becomes so cruel? Just because he downloaded thousands of articles from the academic database? Just because he broke into MIT’s property? Or just because he broke the Copyright Law? For Aaron Swartz’s friends and family, these are just some reasons the government made up so that they could stop Aaron, who is already a thorn in the government’s side. So, in the end, Aaron only has two options: guilty of felony, go to jail and reboot his life after being released, or not guilty of felony and fight till the end. Aaron chose the latter.
Honestly…
So did Aaron did actually commit those crimes? No idea. I didn’t do any research about the background of this case. And I honestly don’t want to follow what the editor believes is right. Besides, I feel a bit dissatisfied for editor’s choice of selectively opening information in the film. For instance, in what physical and psychological state did Aaron experience after being charged with those crimes? Why can those famous people like Berners-Lee or MIT worker just save him? Etc.
RIP…
But, if we choose to believe in Aaron Swartz, then, this world doesn’t deserve to have such gifted genius, one that didn’t let money blind his eyes, one that didn’t just want to be an internet technician but, instead, want to use his own talent to just the unjust and make a better world. He is not only a hacker, but also a young politician and social activist. He has his own unique personality, a personality that has an innate desire for freedom. So finally, Aaron Swartz ended up with suicide, which is his own way of chasing the freedom and creating a better world, just like he always devoted. Rest in Peace, Dear Aaron Swartz (1986–2013).
