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It isn’t enough that we live in a time of “Big Brother is REALLY watching you” with downloading documents from the internet and having authorities at your door a minute later.  Such is the tragic case of Reddit co-founder and technology prodigy Aaron Swartz, who tragically committed suicide in January 2013.  The Internet’s Own Boy is a very fine, very detailed look at his life, his amazing aptitude towards technology from a young age, his alleged crimes and the theories of what ultimately drove him to take his own life at the age of 26.

In-depth interviews with his family members, friends, co-workers and legal experts paint a portrait of a not-all-too-complex but very forward thinking individual. The film shows the timeline of Aaron Swartz’ involvement in helping to develop RSS feeds to the beginnings of Reddit; he was very much a giant footprint in the internet’s rapid development and advancement.  Most salient is his laboring over  issues such as social fairness, justice and political organization, which led to a two year legal hell.

You’ll want to see every moment of this fascinating and at times, blood-boiling documentary.  It reminds you to remain vigilant in a time when every one of our own actions may have ramifications without warning.  Aaron Swartz was a visionary, a scapegoat and now a martyr – and The Internet’s Own Boy presents his case very clearly.

*Available now on pay-per-view

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy

About the Author

Rob Ross

Rob Ross has been, for good, bad or indifferent, involved in the music industry for over 30 years - first as guitarist/singer/songwriter with The Punch Line, then as freelance journalist, producer and manager to working for independent and major record labels. He resides in Staten Island, New York with his wife and cats; he works out a lot, reads voraciously, loves Big Star and his orange Gretsch. Doesn't that make him neat?

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