Internet's Own Boy

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The movie titledThe Internet’s Own Boy by Brian Knappenberger documented the life ofhacktivist Aaron Swartz. Swartz was a brilliant young man who grew up with a keen attitude towards knowledge and the dissemination of knowledge. His skills in computer programming aided him in fulfilling his dreams. At a young age, Mr. Swartz was acknowledged by manypeople in the field of technology as a person with great talent. In his teens, he attributed to RSS (Rich Site Summary), CC (creative commons), Infogami. Infogami then merged with another company to create Reddit, a popular place for internet goers. In addition to Mr. Swartz’s programming skills, he had a passion for fighting for equal access rights to public knowledge for everyone. This lead him to create multiple websites …show more content…

Mr. Swartz’s actions in the cyber world proved that hacking could be attributed to a greatercause beyond personal gains despite the legal ramifications. In this case, to provide many peoplewith the same resources and knowledge as privileged people. Mr. Swartz’s is seen as a vigilante by his supporters. The FBI’s position on prosecuting Swartz was justified legally because he did,in fact, manage to download thousands of protected journal articles. However, it was seen by Swartz’s supporters that the charges against him were extreme and did not fit the crime. Ibelieve, because of Mr. Swartz increasing popularity, the FBI decided to “make an example” of a relatively simple case of data breech and force the full extent of the law and prosecute him federally to deter people following his footsteps. Mr. Swartz story made me think about the motives behind the hackers’ actions. In this case, the motivation can be seen as for the greater good. However, whatever the motive is, hacking is stilla crime punishable by law. The movie concentrated on Mr. Swartz’s point of view; however, it failed to address the opposing point of view—the

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