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

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz examines the life of Aaron Swartz, a programming prodigy who helped shape parts of the early web and went on to campaign for open access to information and for political and social causes. His uncompromising position on making knowledge freely available put him in conflict with authorities, and he was charged with federal crimes in 2011 and 2012. The legal pressure that followed became the central struggle of his final years, and he died by suicide in 2013 at the age of 26.

Brian Knappenberger directed, wrote and produced the documentary, which followed his earlier We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists and stands as the second of the four films he has directed. The film features Swartz himself alongside figures from the technology and open-internet world, among them Tim Berners-Lee, Cory Doctorow, Peter Eckersley, Lawrence Lessig and Brewster Kahle, who appear as themselves. It runs 105 minutes and was released in 2014, with backing from Participant, Luminant Media, FilmBuff and Unjustus Films.

The documentary looks at what Swartz built and fought for, and at how his case touched people well beyond the online communities where he was known. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.9 out of 10 from 477 votes, indicating strong approval from those who have seen it.