Crappy film

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A documentary about Aaron Swartz, an internet prodigy since a very young age, who had a huge contribution and influence on some of the internet's blocks, such as Creative Commons, RSS, Reddit, SOPA and a lot more. This is the story of one person who tries to fight a government and in some aspects succeeds, but pays in his own life. He had an agenda that knowledge should be shared for free. He protested the situation in which the government makes hundreds of million of dollars in order to allow people to access public domain law/court/science documents. He d/l huge amount of these documents, that had free access from MIT computers, in order to spread them for free. He was charged by the FBI and prosecuted in court, facing a lifetime in prison. In 2013 he committed suicide at age 26.

I rate this movie 10 just because it is something that everyone needs to see. It is one of the most important subjects of our generation. Your and your kids freedom is at stake.If you think freedom of speech is important you should recommend this to everyone you know and don't know.If you think the U.S legal system is to hard on people threatening the establishment you should recommend this to everyone you know and don't know. If you think laws should bee public and accessible to everyone for free you should recommend this to everyone you know and don't know.

First thing to note is that the producers have made this film available on YouTube, for free: http://youtu.be/vXr-2hwTk58 So, if you are interested about who controls the Internet, about fundamental freedoms, about access to research and similar "scholarly articles", you have no excuse to not watch it. And you will be rewarded for doing so by a truly moving story of a remarkable young man. Aaron Schwartz was an Internet pioneer and a precocious prodigy who developed Wikis, Reddit, RSS, Creative Commons among others and was a major contributor to the campaign that eventually stopped the SOPA bill. Part of his campaigning was targeted at open access to research material which is controlled and capitalized on by commercial companies who contribute little to their publication but make huge profits from doing so. This led him to download huge volumes of one such publisher, JSTOR via a laptop secreted in a switch room in MIT. The government chose to indict him with several felonies despite the fact that JSTOR chose not to pursue any litigation. This government prosecution, "to deter others" was in poignant contrast to lack of any such prosecutions following the loans and banking crises that led to the worldwide recession. The questions that Aaron and this film about him raises are important and are well articulated here. That is his powerful legacy and this film is a must-see, in my view.

The story is interesting enough for a documentary, well filmed, made a little bit boring at times though. But it is wounded from the beginning by an inescapable contradiction.Aaron Swartz was a brilliant engaged young man who wanted to make this world a better place. He had a relentless energy and this rare capacity of combining deep technical knowledge with charisma, rhetorical power and strategical planning. He wanted to make a difference and wanted you to be part of making that difference. He seemed to be marked for greatness.And then he is indicted by the government, implicated in a promiscuous process absolutely out of proportion, which thought to make an example out of him. And he gets depressed. And who wouldn't if you were facing the spectrum of 35 years in prison? The next thing you know he commits suicide.Well, I will never judge someone who takes his own life. I'm not a moralist. What I judge is this. Here is a guy, an activist, no doubt a fantastic human being, whose apparent message was let's fight, fight, fight. We can beat and change the system, do good things. Let's not give up. And then he commits suicide? He does in fact give up? Are you kidding me? What about the glowing ideas? What about the inspiring speeches? What about the final message? When the chips are down, blow your brains out?For me he is not a martyr. Nor a victim. Not even a dreamer. For me he is someone who betrayed everything he stood for.True heroes that really make a difference are Assanges and Snowdens, not Swartzes.