[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.77,0:00:39.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[quote on screen]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.17,0:00:54.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The cofounder of the social, news,\Nand entertainment website "Reddit"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.07,0:00:55.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been found dead.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.48,0:00:58.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He certainly was a prodigy,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.89,0:01:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although he never thought\Nof himself like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.17,0:01:04.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was totally unexcited
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.58,0:01:07.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about starting businesses \Nand making money.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.89,0:01:13.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a profound sense of loss\Ntonight in Highland Park,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.11,0:01:14.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron Swartz's hometown
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.79,0:01:18.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as loved ones say goodbye\Nto one of the Internet's brightest lights.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.60,0:01:21.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Freedom, Open Access, and computer\Nactivists are mourning his loss.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.91,0:01:25.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"An astonishing intellect," if you talk\Nto people who knew him.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.04,0:01:29.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was killed by the Government, and\NMIT betrayed all of its basic principles.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.61,0:01:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They wanted to make \Nan example out of him. Okay?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.06,0:01:38.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Governments have insatiable\Ndesire to control.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.17,0:01:43.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was potentially facing 35 years \Nin prison and a 1-million-dollar fine.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.29,0:01:50.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Raising questions to prosecutorial zeal,\Nand I would say even 'misconduct.'
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.02,0:01:54.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you looked into that particular\Nmatter and reached any conclusions?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.71,0:02:00.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing up, you know,\NI slowly had this process realizing
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.59,0:02:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that all the things around me\Nthat people had told me
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.70,0:02:06.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were just the natural way of things were,\Nor the way things would be,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.28,0:02:07.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they weren't natural at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.41,0:02:08.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were things that could be changed.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.54,0:02:11.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there were things, more importantly,\Nwere wrong and should change.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.67,0:02:14.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And once I realized that, \Nthere was really kind of no going back.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.27,0:02:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Welcome to story reading time.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.06,0:02:32.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The name of the book\Nis "Paddington at the Fair."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.05,0:02:36.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was born in Highland Park\Nand grew up here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.40,0:02:39.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron came from a family of three\Nbrothers, all extraordinarily bright.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.79,0:02:42.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"...Oh the box is tipping over..."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.48,0:02:44.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Boys screaming]
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.22,0:02:47.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, we were all, you know, \Nnot the best behaved children.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.82,0:02:51.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, three boys, running \Naround all the time, causing trouble...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.21,0:02:53.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Hey, no, no, no!"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.26,0:02:55.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Aaron!\N- What?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.71,0:03:00.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I've come to the realization Aaron \Nlearned how to learn at a very young age.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.57,0:03:06.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"One, two, three, four, five, \Nsix, seven, eight, nine, ten!"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.35,0:03:08.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Knock, knock!\N- Who's there?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.93,0:03:10.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Aaron.\N- Aaron who?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.66,0:03:12.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Aaron Funnyman.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.35,0:03:14.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He knew what he wanted\Nand he always wanted to do it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.86,0:03:17.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He always accomplished what he wanted.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.46,0:03:21.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His curiosity was endless.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.51,0:03:27.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Here's a little picture of what the planets are. Each planet has a symbol.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.05,0:03:33.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mercury symbol, Venus's symbol, Earth symbol, Mars symbol, Jupiter symbol..."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.10,0:03:37.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One day, he said to Susan, "What's this free family entertainment in downtown Highland Park?"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.09,0:03:40.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Free family entertainment in downtown Highland Park"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.48,0:03:42.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was three at that time.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.50,0:03:44.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She said, "What are you talking about?"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.64,0:03:46.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, "Look, it says here on the refrigerator."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.41,0:03:49.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Free family entertainment in downtown Highland Park"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.91,0:03:54.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was floored, and astonished that he could read.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.89,0:03:59.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called "My Family Seder."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.76,0:04:04.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Seder night is different from all other nights."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.84,0:04:08.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember once, we were at the University of Chicago library.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.78,0:04:12.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I pulled a book off the shelf that was from like 1900,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.32,0:04:16.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And showed him saying "this is just a really extraordinary place."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.15,0:04:22.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all were curious children, but Aaron really liked learning and really liked teaching.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.51,0:04:27.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"...We're going to learn the ABC backward."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.50,0:04:31.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T..."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.49,0:04:35.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember, he came home from his first Algebra class
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.29,0:04:38.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he was like, "Noah, let me teach you Algebra!"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.75,0:04:41.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm like, "What IS Algebra?"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.13,0:04:43.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was always like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.14,0:04:48.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Now you press the click button. There. Now it's got that."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.62,0:04:51.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Now it's in pink."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.86,0:04:56.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he was about two or three years old, and Bob introduced him to computers.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.10,0:04:59.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then he just took off like crazy on them.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.60,0:05:03.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Baby talk]
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.51,0:05:09.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all had computers, but Aaron really took to them, really took to the Internet.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.24,0:05:12.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Working at the computer?\N- Nah...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.96,0:05:16.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"How come... Mommy, why is nothing working?"
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.04,0:05:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He started programming from a really young age.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.30,0:05:21.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember the first program that I wrote with him was in BASIC
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.51,0:05:24.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was a Star Wars trivia game.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.88,0:05:30.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He sat down with me in the basement, where the computer was
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.19,0:05:33.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for hours programming this game.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.82,0:05:38.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The problem that I kept having with him was there was nothing that I wanted done,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.51,0:05:41.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to him, there was always something to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.55,0:05:44.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Always something that programming can solve.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.08,0:05:50.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The way Aaron always saw it is that programming is magic.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.51,0:05:54.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can accomplish these things that normal humans can't.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.04,0:05:58.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron made an ATM using Macintosh and a cardboard box.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.36,0:06:01.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One year for Halloween, I didn't know what I wanted to be.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.84,0:06:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he thought it would be really really cool if I dressed up like his new favorite computer,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.36,0:06:09.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which at that time, the original iMac.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.11,0:06:12.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, he hated dressing up for Halloween, but he loved convincing other people
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.82,0:06:16.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to dress up in things he wanted to see.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.07,0:06:20.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Host Aaron, stop, guys, come on, look at the camera!"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.40,0:06:22.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Spiderman looks at the Camera."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.01,0:06:31.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He made this website called "The Info," where people can just fill in information.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.36,0:06:34.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm sure someone out there know all about gold, gold leafing.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.84,0:06:38.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why don't they write about that on this website. And other people can come at later point,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.72,0:06:43.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,read that information and edit the information if they though it was bad.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.35,0:06:46.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not too dissimilar from Wikipedia, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.23,0:06:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this was before Wikipedia had begun, and this was developed by a 12-year-old
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.58,0:06:58.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in his room, by himself, running on this tiny server using ancient technology.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.45,0:07:01.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one of the teachers' response was like,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.28,0:07:06.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"This is a terrible idea. You can't just let anyone author the encyclopedia.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.80,0:07:10.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The whole reason we have scholars is to write these books for us.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.14,0:07:12.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How could you ever have such a terrible idea?"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.67,0:07:16.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Me and my other brother were like, "Aw, you know, Wikipedia is cool, but...
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.50,0:07:20.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we had that in our house like, 5 years ago."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.29,0:07:25.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron's website, theinfo.org, wins a school competition
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.60,0:07:30.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hosted by the Cambridge-based web design firm ArsDigita.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.61,0:07:37.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all went to Cambridge when he won the ArsDigita prize
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.44,0:07:39.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we had no clue what Aaron was doing.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.52,0:07:43.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was obvious that the prize was really important.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.78,0:07:47.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron soon became involved with online programming communities,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.36,0:07:51.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then in the process of shaping\Na new tool for the Web.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.26,0:07:55.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He comes up to me and is like, "Ben, there's this\Nreally awesome thing that I'm working on."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.18,0:07:56.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"You need to hear about it!"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.89,0:07:58.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Yeah, what is it?"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.52,0:08:00.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It's this thing called RSS."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.100,0:08:07.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he explains to me what RSS is.\NI'm like, "Why is that useful, Aaron?"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.52,0:08:11.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Is any site using it?\NWhy would I want to use it?"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.27,0:08:16.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was this mailing list for people who are\Nworking on RSS, and XML more generally,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.42,0:08:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there was a person on it named\NAaron Swartz who was combative but very smart,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.25,0:08:24.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who had lots of good ideas, and
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.76,0:08:27.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he didn't ever come to the\Nface-to-face meetings, and they said,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.96,0:08:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"You know, when are you gonna come out\Nto one of these face-to-face meetings?"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.35,0:08:37.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he said, "You know, I don't think\Nmy mom would let me. I've just turned fourteen."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.22,0:08:42.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so their first reaction was: "Well, this person,\Nthis colleague we've been working with all year
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.67,0:08:46.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was thirteen years old while we were\Nworking with him, and he's only fourteen now."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.13,0:08:47.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And their second reaction was:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.38,0:08:50.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Christ, we really want to meet him.\NThat's extraordinary!"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.14,0:08:53.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was part of the committee that drafted RSS.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.46,0:08:59.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What he was doing was to help build\Nthe plumbing for modern hypertext.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.15,0:09:05.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The piece that he was working on, RSS,\Nwas a tool that you can use to get summaries
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.70,0:09:08.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of things that are going on on other web pages.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.18,0:09:10.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most commonly, you would use this for a blog.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.61,0:09:13.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You might have 10 or 20 people's blogs you wanna read.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.51,0:09:18.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You use their RSS feeds, these summaries of\Nwhat's going on on those other pages
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.32,0:09:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to create a unified list of all the stuff that's going on.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.10,0:09:27.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron was really young, but he understood\Nthe technology and he saw that it was imperfect
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.11,0:09:30.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and looked for ways to help make it better.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.64,0:09:39.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So his mom started bundling him on planes in Chicago. We'd pick him up in San Francicso.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:39.80,0:09:44.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We'd introduce him to interesting people to argue with, and we'd marvel at his horrific eating habits.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.78,0:09:50.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He only ate white food, only like steamed rice and not fried rice 'cause that wasn't sufficiently white
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.88,0:09:53.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and white bread, and so on...
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.32,0:09:58.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you kind of marveled at the quality of the debate emerging from this,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.48,0:10:00.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what appeared to be a small boy's mouth,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.79,0:10:04.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you'd think, this is a kid that's really going to get somewhere if he doesn't die of scurvy.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.48,0:10:06.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron, you're up!
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.69,0:10:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the difference is that now you can't make companies like dotcoms.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.00,0:10:15.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't have companies that just sell dog food over the Internet, or sell dog food over cell phones.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.25,0:10:17.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there's still a lot of innovation going on.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.51,0:10:21.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that maybe if you don't see the innovation, maybe your head is in the sand.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.02,0:10:24.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He takes on this, like an alpha nerd personality, where he's
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.13,0:10:28.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sort of like, "I'm smarter than you, and because I'm smarter than you, I'm better than you,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.19,0:10:29.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I can tell you what to do."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.97,0:10:34.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's an extension of, like, him being kind of like a twerp.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.76,0:10:38.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So you aggregate all these computers together and now they're solving big problems
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.31,0:10:42.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like searching for aliens and trying to cure cancer.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.63,0:10:47.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I first met him on IRC, on Internet Relay Chat.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.51,0:10:53.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't just write code, he also got people excited about solving problems he got.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.48,0:10:55.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was a connector.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.39,0:10:58.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The free culture movement has had a lot of his energy.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.38,0:11:03.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think Aaron was trying to make the world work. He was trying to fix it.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.17,0:11:08.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He had a very kind of strong personality that definitely ruffled feathers at times.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.34,0:11:13.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It wasn't necesarily the case that he was always comfortable in the world
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.20,0:11:16.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the world wasn't always comfortable with him.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.95,0:11:22.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron got into high school and was really just sick of school.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.54,0:11:27.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't like it. He didn't like any of the classes that were being taught. He didn't like the teachers.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.65,0:11:30.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron really knew, like, how to get information.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.25,0:11:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was like, "I don't need to go to this teacher to learn how to do geometry.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.98,0:11:36.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can just read the geometry book,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.49,0:11:40.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I don't need to go to this teacher to learn their version of American history,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.92,0:11:45.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have, like, three historical compilations here, I could just read them,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.40,0:11:48.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in the Web."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.71,0:11:52.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was very frustrated with school. I thought the teachers didn't know what they were talking about,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.58,0:11:56.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they were domineering and controlling, and the homework was kind of a sham,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.29,0:12:01.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was all just like all about a way to pen students all together and force them to do busywork.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.26,0:12:04.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, you know, I started reading books about the history of education
Dialogue: 0,0:12:04.86,0:12:07.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how this educational system was developed,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.85,0:12:11.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, you know, alternatives to it and ways that people could actually learn things
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.22,0:12:14.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as opposed to just regurgitating facts that teachers told them,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.57,0:12:18.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that kind of led me down this path of questioning things, once I questioned the school I was in,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:18.49,0:12:24.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I questioned the society that built the school, I questioned the businesses that the schools were training people for,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.36,0:12:27.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I questioned the government that set up this whole structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.73,0:12:31.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the thing he was most passionate about was copyright, especially in those early days.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.34,0:12:37.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Copyright has always been something of a burden on the publishing industry and on readers,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.49,0:12:44.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it wasn't an excessive burden. It was a reasonable institution to have in place
Dialogue: 0,0:12:44.01,0:12:46.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make sure that people got paid.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:46.02,0:12:52.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What Aaron's generation experienced was the collision between this antique copyright system
Dialogue: 0,0:12:52.66,0:12:56.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this amazing new thing we were trying to build--the Internet and the Web.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.32,0:13:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These things collided, and what we got was chaos.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:01.98,0:13:05.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He then met Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.28,0:13:08.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who was then challenging copyright law in the Supreme Court.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:08.60,0:13:12.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A young Aaron Swartz flew to Washington to listen to the Supreme Court hearings.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.97,0:13:17.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am Aaron Swartz and I'm here to listen to the Eldred--to see the Eldred argument.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:17.50,0:13:22.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why did you fly out here from Chicago, and come all this way to see the Eldred argument?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:22.55,0:13:25.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a more difficult question...
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.36,0:13:33.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't know. It's very exciting to see the Supreme Court,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.33,0:13:36.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially in such a prestigious case as this one.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:41.60,0:13:46.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lessig was also moving forward with a new way to define copyright on the Internet.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:46.51,0:13:48.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was called Creative Commons.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.99,0:13:53.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the simple idea of Creative Commons is to give people--creators--
Dialogue: 0,0:13:53.20,0:13:58.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a simple way to mark their creativity with the freedoms they intended to carry.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:58.69,0:14:04.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if copyright is all about "All Rights Reserved", then this is a kind of a "Some Rights Reserved" model.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.58,0:14:08.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want a simple way to say to you, "Here's what you can do with my work,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:08.54,0:14:13.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even if there are other things which you need to get my permission before you could do."
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.08,0:14:16.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Aaron's role was the computer part.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:16.26,0:14:20.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like, how do you architect the licenses so they'll be simple and understandable
Dialogue: 0,0:14:20.56,0:14:22.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and expressed in a way so that machines can process it?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.93,0:14:29.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And people were like, "Why do you have this fifteen-year-old kid writing the specifications for Creative Commons?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.14,0:14:30.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Don't you think that's a huge mistake?"
Dialogue: 0,0:14:30.55,0:14:34.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Larry is like, "The biggest mistake we would have done is not listening to this kid."
Dialogue: 0,0:14:34.97,0:14:39.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He barely is not even tall enough to even get over the podium,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:39.27,0:14:42.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was this movable podium so it was this embarrassing thing,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:42.06,0:14:45.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where once he put his screen up nobody could see his face.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:45.86,0:14:50.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you come to our website here, and you go to "Choose License".
Dialogue: 0,0:14:50.83,0:14:56.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It gives you this list of options, it explains what it means, and you've got three simple questions:
Dialogue: 0,0:14:56.83,0:14:59.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Do you want to require attribution?"
Dialogue: 0,0:14:59.44,0:15:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Do you want to allow commercial uses of your work?"
Dialogue: 0,0:15:02.38,0:15:05.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Do you want to allow modifications of your work?"
Dialogue: 0,0:15:05.45,0:15:11.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was floored, just completely flabbergasted that these adults regarded him as an adult,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:11.41,0:15:15.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Aaron stood up there in front of a whole audience full of people, and just started talking
Dialogue: 0,0:15:15.71,0:15:19.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the platform that he'd created for Creative Commons,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:19.72,0:15:23.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they were all listening to him, just...
Dialogue: 0,0:15:23.27,0:15:27.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was sitting at the back, thinking: he's just a kid, why are they listening to him?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:27.77,0:15:29.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But they did...
Dialogue: 0,0:15:29.36,0:15:31.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, I don't think I comprehended it fully.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:31.90,0:15:36.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though critics have said it does little to ensure artists get paid for their work,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:36.96,0:15:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the success of Creative Commons has been enormous.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:40.00,0:15:46.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Currently on the website Flickr alone, over 200 million people use some form of Creative Commons license.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:46.46,0:15:56.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He contributed through his technical abilities, and yet it was not simply a technical matter to him.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:56.92,0:16:00.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron often wrote candidly in his personal blog:
Dialogue: 0,0:16:00.92,0:16:05.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think deeply about things, and I want others to do likewise.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:05.82,0:16:10.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I work for ideas and learn from people. I don't like excluding people.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:10.95,0:16:15.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a perfectionist, but I won't let that get in the way of publication.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:15.42,0:16:18.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Except for education and entertainment, I'm not going to waste my time
Dialogue: 0,0:16:18.83,0:16:21.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on things that won't have an impact.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:21.03,0:16:26.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I try to be friends with everyone, but I hate it when you don't take me seriously.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.16,0:16:31.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't hold grudges, it's not productive, but I learn from my experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:31.44,0:16:35.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to make the world a better place.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:40.18,0:16:45.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2004, Swartz leaves Highland Park and enrolls in Stanford University.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:45.76,0:16:51.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He'd had ulcerative colitis which was very troubling, and we were concerned about him taking his medication.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:51.85,0:16:55.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He got hospitalized and he would take this cocktail of pills every day,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:55.87,0:17:00.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and one of those pills was a steroid which stunted his growth,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:00.77,0:17:03.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and made him feel different from any of the other students.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:03.82,0:17:06.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron, I think, shows up at Stanford ready to do scholarship
Dialogue: 0,0:17:06.46,0:17:12.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and finds himself in effectively a babysitting program for overachieving high-schoolers
Dialogue: 0,0:17:12.80,0:17:20.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who in four years are meant to become captains of industry and one-percenters
Dialogue: 0,0:17:20.83,0:17:24.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think it just made him bananas.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:25.49,0:17:28.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2005, after only one year of college,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:28.53,0:17:35.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz was offered a spot at a new start-up incubation firm called Y Combinator, lead by Paul Graham.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:35.75,0:17:39.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's like, "Hey, I have this idea for a website."
Dialogue: 0,0:17:39.18,0:17:42.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Paul Graham likes him enough, and says, "Yeah, sure."
Dialogue: 0,0:17:42.23,0:17:45.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So Aaron drops out of school, moves to this apartment...
Dialogue: 0,0:17:45.74,0:17:48.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this used to be Aaron's apartment when he moved here.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:48.86,0:17:54.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have vague memories of my father telling me how difficult it was to get a lease
Dialogue: 0,0:17:54.98,0:17:57.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,'cause Aaron had no credit and he dropped out of college.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:57.86,0:18:03.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron lived in what's now the living room and some of the posters are leftover from when Aaron lived here.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:03.67,0:18:09.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the library...there are more books, but a lot of them are Aaron's.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:10.91,0:18:16.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron's Y Combinator site was called "infogami", a tool to build websites.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:16.86,0:18:20.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But infogami struggles to find users, and Swartz eventually
Dialogue: 0,0:18:20.44,0:18:24.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,merges his company with another Y Combinator project in need of help.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:24.75,0:18:29.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a project headed by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, called "Reddit".
Dialogue: 0,0:18:29.54,0:18:33.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There we were, starting from almost nothing. No users, no money, no code,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:33.71,0:18:37.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and growing day by day into a hugely popular website,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:37.03,0:18:38.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it showed no signs of letting up.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:38.82,0:18:44.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First we had 1000 users, then 10000, then 20000 and on, and on...It was just incredible.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:44.37,0:18:49.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Reddit becomes huge and it's a real sort of geeky corner of the Internet.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:52.15,0:19:01.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a lot of humor, there's a lot of art, and there's just people who flock to the site,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:01.10,0:19:07.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and make that site the main site they go to every morning to get their news.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:07.41,0:19:12.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reddit kind of just borders on chaos at some levels,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:12.01,0:19:19.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so on the one hand it's a place where people discuss news of the day, technology, politics and issues,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:19.37,0:19:24.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and yet there is a lot of kind of Not Safe For Work material, offensive material,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:24.82,0:19:29.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are some sub-reddits where trolls find a welcome home,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:29.72,0:19:33.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so, in that sense reddit has been kind of home to controversy, as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:33.93,0:19:36.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It kind of sits on that edge of chaos.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:36.79,0:19:41.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reddit catches the attention of the corporate magazine giant Condé Nast,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:41.08,0:19:42.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who makes an offer to buy the company.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:42.94,0:19:46.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some large amount of money, large enough that my dad was getting bugged with questions
Dialogue: 0,0:19:46.94,0:19:51.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about like: "How do I store this money?"
Dialogue: 0,0:19:51.30,0:19:54.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Like a lot of money...\N- Like a lot of money.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:54.27,0:20:00.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like probably more than a million dollars, but I don't actually know.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:00.32,0:20:03.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- And he's how old at the time?\N- 19, 20.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:05.16,0:20:11.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it was in this apartment. They sat around\Non what predated these couches,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:11.20,0:20:14.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hacking on Reddit, and when they sold Reddit
Dialogue: 0,0:20:14.49,0:20:18.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they threw a giant party, and then all flew\Nout to California the next day,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:18.64,0:20:20.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and left the keys with me.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:23.70,0:20:27.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was funny, you know, he'd just sold his start-up so we all presumed
Dialogue: 0,0:20:27.40,0:20:29.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was the richest person around
Dialogue: 0,0:20:29.33,0:20:33.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he said, "Oh no, I'll take this tiny little\Nshoebox-sized room. That's all I need."
Dialogue: 0,0:20:33.92,0:20:36.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was barely larger than a closet.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:36.15,0:20:42.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The idea of him spending his money on\Nfancy objects just seemed so implausible.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:42.50,0:20:47.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He explains it as, "I like living in apartments so I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a new place to live. I'm not gonna buy a mansion,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:47.62,0:20:49.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I like wearing jeans and a T-shirt,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:49.89,0:20:52.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I'm not going to spend any more money on clothes.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:52.05,0:20:54.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's really no big deal."
Dialogue: 0,0:20:54.58,0:20:57.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What is a big deal to Swartz is how traffic\Nflows on the internet,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:57.97,0:21:00.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what commands our attention.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:00.52,0:21:03.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the old system of broadcasting, you're\Nfundamentally limited by the amount of
Dialogue: 0,0:21:03.52,0:21:08.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,space in the airwaves. You could only send out ten channels over the airwaves, television
Dialogue: 0,0:21:08.58,0:21:10.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even with cable, you had 500 channels.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:11.00,0:21:15.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the Internet, everybody can have a channel.\NEveryone can get a blog, or a MySpace page.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:15.36,0:21:18.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone has a way of expressing themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:18.16,0:21:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What you see now is not a question of who gets\Naccess to the airwaves,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:21.28,0:21:25.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a question of who gets control over the\Nways you find people.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:25.03,0:21:29.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, you start seeing power centralizing in sites like Google, theses sort of gatekeepers that tell you
Dialogue: 0,0:21:29.03,0:21:30.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where on the internet you want to go.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:30.99,0:21:34.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The people who provide you your sources of news and information.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:34.27,0:21:38.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's not only certain people have a license to speak, now everyone has
Dialogue: 0,0:21:38.26,0:21:40.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a license to speak. It's a question of who gets heard.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:44.53,0:21:49.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After he started working in San Francisco\Nat Condé Nast, he comes into the office
Dialogue: 0,0:21:49.81,0:21:53.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they want to give him a computer with all\Nthis crap installed on it
Dialogue: 0,0:21:53.79,0:21:57.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and say he can't install any new things\Non this computer,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:57.27,0:21:59.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which to developers is outrageous.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:59.32,0:22:02.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From the first day, he was complaining\Nabout all the stuff.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:05.04,0:22:10.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Gray walls, gray desks, gray noise. The first\Nday I showed up here, I simply couldn't take it.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:10.63,0:22:15.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By lunchtime, I had literally locked myself\Nin a bathroom stall and started crying.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:15.37,0:22:18.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't imagine staying sane with someone\Nbuzzing in my ear all day
Dialogue: 0,0:22:18.28,0:22:20.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let alone getting any actual work done.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:20.96,0:22:24.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nobody else seems to get work done here either
Dialogue: 0,0:22:24.09,0:22:27.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everybody's always coming into our room to\Nhang out and chat, or invite us to play
Dialogue: 0,0:22:27.06,0:22:29.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the new video game system that Wired is testing."
Dialogue: 0,0:22:32.15,0:22:37.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He really had different aspirations that were politically-oriented,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:37.82,0:22:41.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Silicon Valley just doesn't really quite have that culture
Dialogue: 0,0:22:41.86,0:22:46.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that orients technical activity for the purposes of political goals.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:47.01,0:22:49.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron hated working for a corporation.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:49.53,0:22:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They all hate working for Condé Nast, but Aaron\Nis the only one who is not going to take it.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:53.00,0:22:55.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Aaron basically gets himself fired.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:55.64,0:22:58.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By not showing up to work, ever.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:01.01,0:23:05.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was said to be a messy breakup.\NBoth Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman
Dialogue: 0,0:23:05.45,0:23:08.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,declined to be interviewed for this film.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:09.25,0:23:15.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He rejected the business world. One of the really important things to remember about
Dialogue: 0,0:23:15.89,0:23:22.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that choice when Aaron decided to leave start-up\Nculture is that he was also leaving behind
Dialogue: 0,0:23:22.40,0:23:31.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the things that had made him famous and well-loved, and he was at risk of letting down fans.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:31.16,0:23:35.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He got to where he was supposed to be going, and had the self-awareness
Dialogue: 0,0:23:35.87,0:23:42.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the orneriness to realize that he had climbed the mountain of shit to pluck
Dialogue: 0,0:23:42.82,0:23:45.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the single rose and discovered that he'd lost his sense of smell,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:45.85,0:23:50.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and rather than sit there and insist that it wasn't as bad as it seemed,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:50.40,0:23:53.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he did get the rose in any event,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:53.69,0:23:57.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he climbed back down again, which is pretty cool.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:58.03,0:24:01.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The way Aaron always saw it, is that\Nprogramming is magic--
Dialogue: 0,0:24:01.73,0:24:07.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can accomplish these things that normal\Nhumans can't, by being able to program.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:07.11,0:24:13.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if you had magical powers, would you use\Nthem for good, or to make you mountains of cash?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:15.01,0:24:18.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz was inspired by one of the visionaries\Nhe had met as a child.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:18.48,0:24:22.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The man who had invented the World Wide Web,\NTim Berners-Lee.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:22.39,0:24:25.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1990s, Berners-Lee was arguably sitting on
Dialogue: 0,0:24:25.94,0:24:29.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of the most lucrative inventions of\Nthe 20th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:29.26,0:24:35.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but instead of profiting from the invention\Nof the World Wide Web, he gave it away for free.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:35.92,0:24:39.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is the only reason the World Wide Web exists today.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:41.12,0:24:45.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron is certainly deeply influenced by Tim.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:45.26,0:24:51.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tim is certainly a very prominent early Internet genius, who doesn't in any sense cash out.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:51.40,0:24:55.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's not at all interested in how he's going to figure out how to make a billion dollars.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:55.86,0:24:57.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People were saying, "Ah, there's money to be made there,"
Dialogue: 0,0:24:57.83,0:25:00.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so there would have been lots of little webs,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:00.57,0:25:02.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instead of one big one,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:02.14,0:25:05.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and one little web, and all sorts of webs doesn't work,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:05.03,0:25:08.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you can't follow links from one to the other.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:09.92,0:25:14.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You had to have the critical masses--the thing was the entire planet,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:14.11,0:25:17.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it's not going to work unless the whole planet can get on board.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:23.89,0:25:28.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel very strongly that it's not enough to just live in the world as it is,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:28.16,0:25:33.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to just kind of take what you're given, and you know, follow the things that adults told you to do,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:33.85,0:25:39.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that your parents told you to do, and that society tells you to do. I think you should always be questioning.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:39.04,0:25:43.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I take this very scientific attitude, that\Neverything you've learned is just provisional,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:43.06,0:25:49.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it's always open to recantation or refutation or\Nquestioning, and I think the same applies to society.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:49.12,0:25:53.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once I realized that there were real serious problems--fundamental problems--
Dialogue: 0,0:25:53.49,0:25:58.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I could do something to address, I didn't see a way to forget that. I didn't see a way not to.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:02.60,0:26:04.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We just started spending a lot of time,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:04.83,0:26:06.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just kind of as friends.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:08.91,0:26:11.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We would just talk, for hours, into the night.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:14.39,0:26:18.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I definitely should have understood that he was flirting with me. I think to some degree,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:18.11,0:26:23.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was, like, this is a terrible idea, and impossible, and therefore I will pretend it is not happening.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:25.16,0:26:28.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As my marriage was breaking down, and I was\Nreally stuck without anywhere to go,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:28.94,0:26:32.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we became roommates, and I brought my daughter over.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:34.08,0:26:37.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We moved in, and furnished the house, and it\Nwas really peaceful.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:37.25,0:26:40.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My life had not been peaceful for a while, and really neither had his.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:46.22,0:26:54.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We were extremely close from the beginning of our romantic relationship.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:54.07,0:26:57.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We just...we were in constant contact.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:57.63,0:27:02.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we're both really difficult people to deal with. [laughs]
Dialogue: 0,0:27:04.50,0:27:10.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a very Ally McBeal discussion, he confessed he had a theme song, and I made him play it for me.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:12.34,0:27:16.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was "Extraordinary Machine" by Fiona Apple.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:16.50,0:27:24.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it was just that sense of kind of being a little bit embattled that the song has,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:25.05,0:27:27.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it also had, like, this hopefulness to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:27.84,0:27:34.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ By foot it's a slow climb, but I'm good\Nat being uncomfortable so I can't stop
Dialogue: 0,0:27:34.42,0:27:36.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,changing all the time ♪
Dialogue: 0,0:27:36.69,0:27:44.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In many ways, Aaron was tremendously optimistic\Nabout life. Even when he didn't feel it,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:44.48,0:27:47.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he could be tremendously optimistic about life.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:47.04,0:27:50.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ Extraordinary machine ♪
Dialogue: 0,0:27:53.04,0:27:57.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- What are you doing?\N(Quinn) - Flicker has video now.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:59.39,0:28:01.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz threw his energy into a string of new
Dialogue: 0,0:28:01.74,0:28:04.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,projects involving access to public information,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:04.73,0:28:08.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including an accountability website called\NWatchdog.net,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:08.19,0:28:10.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a project called The Open Library.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:10.82,0:28:15.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, the Open Library Project is a website you can visit at openlibrary.org,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:15.30,0:28:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the idea is to be a huge wiki, an editable website with one page per book.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:19.78,0:28:23.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So for every book ever published, we want to have a web page about it that combines
Dialogue: 0,0:28:23.91,0:28:29.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all the information from publishers, from booksellers, from libraries, from readers
Dialogue: 0,0:28:29.39,0:28:34.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,onto one site, and then gives you links where\Nyou can buy it, you can borrow it, or you can browse it.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:34.59,0:28:39.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love libraries. I'm the kind of person who\Ngoes to a new city and immediately seeks out the library.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:39.96,0:28:44.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the dream of Open Library, is building this website where both you can leap
Dialogue: 0,0:28:44.05,0:28:49.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from book to book, from person to author, from subject to idea, go through this vast tree
Dialogue: 0,0:28:49.30,0:28:53.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of knowledge that's been embedded and lost in big physical libraries, that's hard to find,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:53.76,0:28:59.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's not very well-accessible online. It's really important because books are our cultural legacy.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:59.09,0:29:00.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Books are the place people go to write things down,
Dialogue: 0,0:29:00.94,0:29:05.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to have all that swallowed up by one corporation is kind of scary.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:06.56,0:29:10.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can you bring public access to the public domain?
Dialogue: 0,0:29:10.77,0:29:14.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It may sound obvious that you'd have public access to the public domain,
Dialogue: 0,0:29:14.83,0:29:21.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in fact it's not true. So the public domain should be free to all, but it's often locked up.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:21.08,0:29:26.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's often guard cages. It's like having a national park but with a moat around it,
Dialogue: 0,0:29:26.76,0:29:33.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and gun turrets pointed out, in case somebody might want to actually come and enjoy the public domain.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:33.24,0:29:39.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the things Aaron was particularly interested in was bringing public access to the public domain.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:39.46,0:29:43.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is one of the things that got him into so much trouble.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:46.25,0:29:52.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had been trying to get access to federal court records in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:54.46,0:29:59.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I discovered was a puzzling system called PACER.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:59.06,0:30:02.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:02.88,0:30:07.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started Googling, and that's when I ran\Nacross Carl Malamud.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:08.89,0:30:14.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Access to legal materials in the United States is a ten billion dollar per year business.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:14.84,0:30:22.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,PACER is just this incredible abomination\Nof government services. It's ten cents a page,
Dialogue: 0,0:30:22.56,0:30:27.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's this most braindead code you've ever seen. You can't search it. You can't bookmark anything.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:27.22,0:30:31.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You've got to have a credit card, and these are public records.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:31.89,0:30:37.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,U.S. district courts are very important; it's\Nwhere a lot of our seminal litigation starts.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:37.43,0:30:44.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Civil rights cases, patent cases, all sorts of stuff. Journalists, students, citizens and lawyers
Dialogue: 0,0:30:44.37,0:30:48.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all need access to PACER, and it fights them every step of the way.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:48.37,0:30:55.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People without means can't see the law as readily as people that have that Gold American Express card.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:55.25,0:30:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a poll tax on access to justice.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:57.82,0:31:04.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, the law is the operating system of our democracy, and you have to pay to see it?
Dialogue: 0,0:31:04.25,0:31:07.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, that's not much of a democracy.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:07.14,0:31:11.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They make about 120 million dollars a year on the PACER system,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:11.87,0:31:18.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it doesn't cost anything near that, according to their own records. In fact, it's illegal.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:18.94,0:31:25.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The E-Government Act of 2002 states that the courts may charge only to the extent necessary,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:25.83,0:31:29.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to reimburse the costs of running PACER.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:34.62,0:31:40.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the founder of Public.Resource.Org, Malamud wanted to protest the PACER charges.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:40.16,0:31:43.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He started a program called The PACER Recycling Project,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:43.30,0:31:47.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where people could upload PACER documents they had already paid for
Dialogue: 0,0:31:47.30,0:31:50.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a free database so others could use them.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:50.33,0:31:55.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The PACER people were getting a lot of flack from Congress and others about public access,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:55.06,0:32:00.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so they put together a system in 17 libraries across the country that was free PACER access.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:01.88,0:32:07.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, that's one library every 22,000 square miles, I believe, so it wasn't like really convenient.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:07.92,0:32:12.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I encouraged volunteers to join the so-called Thumb Drive Corps,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:12.17,0:32:16.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and download docs from the public access libraries, upload them to the PACER recycling site.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:16.61,0:32:20.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People take a thumb drive into one of these libraries, and they download a bunch of documents,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:20.81,0:32:25.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they send them to me. I mean, it was just a joke.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:25.09,0:32:28.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, when you clicked on Thumb Drive Corps, there was a Wizard of Oz,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:28.64,0:32:31.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, the Munchkins singing, so a videoclip came up:
Dialogue: 0,0:32:31.59,0:32:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ We represent the lollipop guild...♪
Dialogue: 0,0:32:34.94,0:32:39.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But of course, I get this phone calls from Steve Shultze and Aaron, saying,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:39.38,0:32:43.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Gee, we'd like to join the Thumb Drive Corps."
Dialogue: 0,0:32:43.38,0:32:47.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Around that time, I ran into Aaron at a conference.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:47.33,0:32:51.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is something that really has to be a collaboration between a lot of different people.
Dialogue: 0,0:32:51.59,0:32:53.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I approached him and I said,
Dialogue: 0,0:32:53.22,0:32:58.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Hey, I am thinking about an intervention on the PACER problem."
Dialogue: 0,0:32:59.86,0:33:04.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shultze had already developed a program that could automatically download PACER documents
Dialogue: 0,0:33:04.44,0:33:06.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the trial libraries.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:06.46,0:33:08.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz wanted to take a look.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:08.80,0:33:13.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I showed him the code, and I didn't know what would come next,
Dialogue: 0,0:33:13.48,0:33:19.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but as it turns out, over the course of the next few hours at that conference,
Dialogue: 0,0:33:19.03,0:33:24.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was off sitting in a corner, improving my code, recruiting a friend of his
Dialogue: 0,0:33:24.17,0:33:32.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that lived near one of these libraries to go into the library, and to begin to test his improved code.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:32.14,0:33:38.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At which point the folks at the courts realized something is not going quite according to plan.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:38.44,0:33:42.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And data started to come in, and come in, and come in
Dialogue: 0,0:33:42.68,0:33:47.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and soon there was 760 GB of PACER docs, about 20 million pages.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:48.28,0:33:52.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Using information retrieved from the trial libraries,
Dialogue: 0,0:33:52.10,0:33:57.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz was conducting massive automated parallel downloading of the PACER system.
Dialogue: 0,0:33:57.30,0:34:04.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was able to acquire nearly 2.7 million Federal Court documents, almost 20 million pages of text.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:04.36,0:34:09.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I'll grant you that 20 million pages had perhaps exceed the expectations of the people
Dialogue: 0,0:34:09.86,0:34:14.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,running the pilot access project, but surprising a bureaucrat isn't illegal.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:14.62,0:34:19.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron and Carl decided to go talk to The New York Times about what happened.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:19.73,0:34:26.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They also caught the attention of the FBI, who began to stake out Swartz's parents' house in Illinois.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:26.50,0:34:31.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I get a tweet from his mother, saying, "Call me!!"
Dialogue: 0,0:34:31.05,0:34:33.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I think, like, what the hell's going on here?
Dialogue: 0,0:34:33.60,0:34:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, finally I get a hold of Aaron and, you know, Aaron's mother was like, "Oh my God, FBI, FBI, FBI!"
Dialogue: 0,0:34:40.27,0:34:45.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,An FBI agent drives down our home's driveway, trying to see if Aaron is in his room.
Dialogue: 0,0:34:47.16,0:34:51.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember being home that day, and wondering why this car was driving down our driveway,
Dialogue: 0,0:34:51.90,0:34:55.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and just driving back up. That's weird!
Dialogue: 0,0:34:56.60,0:35:04.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like, five years later I read this FBI file, like, oh my goodness: that was the FBI agent, in my driveway.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:04.100,0:35:08.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was terrified. He was totally terrified.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:09.50,0:35:14.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was way more terrified after the FBI actually called him up on the phone,
Dialogue: 0,0:35:14.91,0:35:19.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and tried to sucker him into coming down to a coffee shop without a lawyer.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:19.14,0:35:23.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said he went home and lay down on the bed and, you know, was shaking.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:25.51,0:35:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The downloading also uncovered massive privacy violations in the court documents.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:30.06,0:35:34.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ultimately, the courts were forced to change their policies as a result,
Dialogue: 0,0:35:34.92,0:35:39.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the FBI closed their investigation without bringing charges.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:39.43,0:35:41.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To this day, I find it remarkable
Dialogue: 0,0:35:41.76,0:35:46.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that anybody, even at the most remote podunk field office of the FBI
Dialogue: 0,0:35:46.61,0:35:51.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thought that a fitting use for taxpayer dollars was investigating people
Dialogue: 0,0:35:51.18,0:35:55.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for criminal theft on the grounds that they had made the law public.
Dialogue: 0,0:35:55.49,0:35:57.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can you call yourself a lawman,
Dialogue: 0,0:35:57.74,0:36:01.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and think that there could possibly be anything wrong in this whole world
Dialogue: 0,0:36:01.72,0:36:03.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with making the law public?
Dialogue: 0,0:36:03.58,0:36:09.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron was willing to put himself at risk for the causes that he believed in.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:09.46,0:36:15.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bothered by wealth disparity, Swartz moves beyond technology, and into a broader range of political causes.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:15.59,0:36:21.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went into Congress, and I invited him to come and hang out and intern for us for a while
Dialogue: 0,0:36:21.62,0:36:25.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that he could learn the political process.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:25.19,0:36:31.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was sort of learning about new community and new sets of skills and kind of learning to hack politics.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:31.19,0:36:36.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It seems ridiculous that miners should have to hammer away until their whole bodies are dripping with sweat
Dialogue: 0,0:36:36.51,0:36:41.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,faced with the knowledge that if they dare to stop, they won't able to put food on the table that night,
Dialogue: 0,0:36:41.31,0:36:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while I get to make larger and larger amounts of money each day just by sitting and watching TV.
Dialogue: 0,0:36:46.44,0:36:48.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,{\i1}But apparently the world is ridiculous.{\i0}
Dialogue: 0,0:36:49.02,0:36:53.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I co-founded a group called "The Progressive Change Campaign Committee",
Dialogue: 0,0:36:53.04,0:36:57.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what we try and do is we try to organize people over the Internet who care about progressive politics
Dialogue: 0,0:36:57.89,0:37:00.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and moving the country toward a more progressive direction
Dialogue: 0,0:37:00.22,0:37:03.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to kind of come together, join our e-mail list, join our campaigns
Dialogue: 0,0:37:03.03,0:37:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and help us to get progressive candidates elected all across the country.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:06.33,0:37:12.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The group is responsible for igniting the grassroots effort behind the campaign to elect Elizabeth Warren to the Senate.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:12.72,0:37:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He might have thought it was a dumb system but he came in and he said, "I need to learn this system,
Dialogue: 0,0:37:17.00,0:37:21.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it can be manipulated like any social system."
Dialogue: 0,0:37:21.31,0:37:24.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But his passion for knowledge and libraries didn't take a back seat.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:24.92,0:37:31.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron began to take a closer look at institutions that publish academic journal articles.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:31.04,0:37:34.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By virtue of being students at a major U.S. university, I assume you have access
Dialogue: 0,0:37:34.96,0:37:37.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a wide variety of scholarly journals.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:37.66,0:37:43.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pretty much every major university in the United States pays these sort of licensing fees to organizations like
Dialogue: 0,0:37:43.55,0:37:50.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,JSTOR and Thomson Isi to get access to scholarly journals that the rest of the world can't read.
Dialogue: 0,0:37:50.69,0:37:57.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These scholarly journals and articles are essentially the entire wealth of human knowledge online,
Dialogue: 0,0:37:57.28,0:38:02.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and many have been paid for with taxpayer money or with government grants,
Dialogue: 0,0:38:02.27,0:38:08.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to read them, you often have to pay again handing over steep fees to publishers like Reed-Elsevier.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:08.59,0:38:14.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These licenses fees are so substantial that people who are studying in India, instead of studying in United States,
Dialogue: 0,0:38:14.73,0:38:19.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,don't have this kind of access. They are locked out from all of these journals.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:19.10,0:38:23.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are locked out from our entire scientific legacy.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:23.06,0:38:27.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, a lot of these journal articles, they go back to The Enlightenment.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:27.02,0:38:32.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every time someone has written down a scientific paper, it's been scanned, digitized, and put in these collections.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:32.47,0:38:39.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is a legacy that has been brought to us by the history of people doing interesting work, the history of scientists.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:39.77,0:38:43.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a legacy that should belong to us as a commons, as a people,
Dialogue: 0,0:38:43.17,0:38:48.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but instead, it has been locked up and put online by an handful of for-profit corporations
Dialogue: 0,0:38:48.13,0:38:52.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who then try to get the maximum profit they can out of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:38:53.30,0:38:58.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So a researcher paid by the university or the people publishes a paper,
Dialogue: 0,0:38:58.77,0:39:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at the very, very last step of that process, after all the work is done,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:01.78,0:39:06.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after all the original research is done--the thinking, the lab work, the analysis, after everything is done,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:06.99,0:39:13.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at that last stage, then the researcher has to hand over his or her copyright to this multi-billion dollar company.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:13.91,0:39:18.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's sick. It's an entire economy built on volunteer labor,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:18.24,0:39:21.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then the publishers sit at the very top and scrape off the cream.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:21.39,0:39:28.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Talk about a scam. One publisher in Britain made a profit of three billion dollars last year.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:28.56,0:39:30.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, what a racket!
Dialogue: 0,0:39:30.19,0:39:34.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,JSTOR is just a very, very small player in that story
Dialogue: 0,0:39:34.27,0:39:39.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but for some reason, JSTOR is the player that Aaron decided to confront.
Dialogue: 0,0:39:40.94,0:39:44.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He'd gone to some conference around Open Access and Open Publishing,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:44.47,0:39:46.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I don't know who the person from JSTOR was,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:46.38,0:39:49.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I think they--at some point, Aaron asked the question,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:49.78,0:39:54.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"How much would it cost to open up JSTOR in perpetuity?"
Dialogue: 0,0:39:54.41,0:39:58.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they gave some--I think it was two hundred million dollars,
Dialogue: 0,0:39:58.04,0:40:00.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something that Aaron thought was totally ridiculous.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:00.57,0:40:07.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Working on a fellowship at Harvard, he knew users on MIT's famously open and fast network next door
Dialogue: 0,0:40:07.37,0:40:12.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had authorized access to the riches of JSTOR. Swartz saw an opportunity.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:12.24,0:40:14.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have a key to those gates,
Dialogue: 0,0:40:14.43,0:40:19.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with a little bit of shell script magic, you can get those journal articles.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:20.99,0:40:23.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On September 24, 2010,
Dialogue: 0,0:40:23.49,0:40:27.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz registered a newly purchased Acer laptop
Dialogue: 0,0:40:27.03,0:40:30.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the MIT network, under the name "Garry Host".
Dialogue: 0,0:40:30.86,0:40:35.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The client name was registered as "GHost laptop".
Dialogue: 0,0:40:35.45,0:40:38.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He doesn't hack JSTOR in the traditional sense of hacking.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:38.42,0:40:40.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The JSTOR database was organized,
Dialogue: 0,0:40:40.11,0:40:44.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it was completely trivial to figure out how you could download all the articles in JSTOR,
Dialogue: 0,0:40:44.15,0:40:45.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it was basically numbered.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:45.67,0:40:52.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was basically slash slash slash...number article 444024 and -25 and -26.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:52.35,0:40:54.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wrote a Python script called keepgrabbing.py,
Dialogue: 0,0:40:54.97,0:40:58.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was like, keeping grabbing one article after another.
Dialogue: 0,0:40:58.44,0:41:02.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The next day, GHost laptop begins grabbing articles,
Dialogue: 0,0:41:02.21,0:41:08.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but soon, the computer's IP address is blocked. For Swartz, it's barely a bump in the road.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:08.38,0:41:12.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He quickly reassigns his computer's IP address and keeps downloading.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:13.03,0:41:17.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, JSTOR and MIT take a number of steps to try to interfere with this,
Dialogue: 0,0:41:17.47,0:41:19.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when they notice that this is happening,
Dialogue: 0,0:41:19.62,0:41:21.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when the more modest steps don't work,
Dialogue: 0,0:41:21.85,0:41:26.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then at a certain stage, JSTOR just cuts off MIT from having access to the JSTOR database.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:26.72,0:41:29.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there's a kind of cat-and-mouse game around
Dialogue: 0,0:41:29.30,0:41:33.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,getting access to the JSTOR database.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:33.33,0:41:38.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron, ultimately, obviously is the cat because he has more technical capability
Dialogue: 0,0:41:38.99,0:41:42.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than the JSTOR database people do in defending them.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:42.65,0:41:46.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Eventually, there was an unlocked supply closet in the basement of one of the buildings,
Dialogue: 0,0:41:46.90,0:41:50.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he went, instead of going through WiFi, he went down there and he just plugged his computer directly into the network
Dialogue: 0,0:41:50.70,0:41:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and just left it there with an external hard drive downloading these articles to the computer.
Dialogue: 0,0:41:56.54,0:42:01.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unknown to Swartz, his laptop and hard drive had been found by authorities.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:02.88,0:42:04.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They didn't stop the downloads.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:04.99,0:42:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, they installed a surveillance camera.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:10.09,0:42:14.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They found the computer in this room in the basement of an MIT building.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:14.58,0:42:19.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They could have unplugged it. They could have waited for the guy to come back and said,
Dialogue: 0,0:42:19.30,0:42:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Dude, what are you doing, you know, cut it out. Who are you?"
Dialogue: 0,0:42:23.70,0:42:25.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They could have done all that kind of stuff, but they didn't.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:25.38,0:42:29.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What they wanted to do was film it to gather evidence to make a case.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:29.76,0:42:34.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the only reason you film something like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:37.67,0:42:41.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first, the only person caught on the glitchy surveillance camera
Dialogue: 0,0:42:41.13,0:42:45.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was using the closet as a place to store bottles and cans.
Dialogue: 0,0:42:53.14,0:42:57.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But days later, it caught Swartz.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:05.44,0:43:10.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz is replacing the hard drive. He takes it out of his backpack,
Dialogue: 0,0:43:10.94,0:43:14.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leans out of frame for about five minutes,
Dialogue: 0,0:43:14.45,0:43:21.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then leaves.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:36.76,0:43:41.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then they organized, like, a stakeout where, as he was biking home from MIT,
Dialogue: 0,0:43:41.82,0:43:44.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these cops came out from either side of the road,
Dialogue: 0,0:43:44.29,0:43:47.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or something like that, and started going after him.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:49.12,0:43:54.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He describes that he was pressed down and assaulted by the police.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:54.76,0:43:58.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He tells me that they--it's unclear that they were police that were after him.
Dialogue: 0,0:43:58.31,0:44:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He thought that someone was trying to attack him.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:02.38,0:44:05.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He does tell me they beat him up.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:08.26,0:44:15.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was just devastating. The notion of any kind of criminal prosecution of anyone in our family or anything
Dialogue: 0,0:44:15.41,0:44:18.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was so foreign and incomprehensible, I didn't know what to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:18.14,0:44:24.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, they execute search warrants at Aaron's house, his apartment in Cambridge, in his office at Harvard.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:27.52,0:44:33.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two days before the arrest, the investigation had gone beyond JSTOR and the local Cambridge police.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:33.54,0:44:37.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It had been taken over by the United States Secret Service.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:37.43,0:44:42.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Secret Service began investigating computer and credit card fraud in 1984,
Dialogue: 0,0:44:42.09,0:44:46.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but six weeks after the attack on 9/11, their role expanded.
Dialogue: 0,0:44:46.67,0:44:48.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[applause]
Dialogue: 0,0:44:48.14,0:44:56.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,President Bush used The Patriot Act to establish a network of what they called "Electronic Crimes Task Forces".
Dialogue: 0,0:44:56.06,0:45:01.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The bill before me takes account of the new realities and dangers posed by modern terrorists.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:01.32,0:45:06.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to the Secret Service, they are primarily engaged in activity with economic impact,
Dialogue: 0,0:45:06.38,0:45:11.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,organized criminal groups, or use of schemes involving new technology.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:11.15,0:45:15.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Secret Service turned Swartz's case over to the Boston U.S. Attorney's office.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:15.61,0:45:17.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a guy in the U.S. attorney's office who had the title:
Dialogue: 0,0:45:17.93,0:45:22.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Head of the Computer Crimes Division or Task Force"
Dialogue: 0,0:45:22.28,0:45:23.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't know what else he had going,
Dialogue: 0,0:45:23.92,0:45:29.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you're certainly not much of a "Computer Crimes Prosecutor" without a computer crime to prosecute,
Dialogue: 0,0:45:29.36,0:45:34.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so he jumped on it, kept if for himself, didn't assign it to someone else within the office or the unit
Dialogue: 0,0:45:34.93,0:45:36.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's Steve Heymann.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:36.69,0:45:41.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Prosecutor Stephen Heymann has been largely out of public view since the arrest of Aaron Swartz,
Dialogue: 0,0:45:41.90,0:45:46.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he can be seen here, in an episode of the television show "American Greed",
Dialogue: 0,0:45:46.33,0:45:48.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,filmed around the time of Aaron's arrest.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:48.70,0:45:53.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is describing his previous case against the notorious hacker Alberto Gonzales,
Dialogue: 0,0:45:53.09,0:45:56.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a case that garnered Heymann enormous press attention and accolades.
Dialogue: 0,0:45:56.87,0:46:01.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gonzales masterminded the theft of over a hundred million credit card and ATM numbers,
Dialogue: 0,0:46:01.91,0:46:04.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the largest such fraud in history.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:04.51,0:46:09.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here, Heymann, describing Gonzales, gives his view on the hacker mindset:
Dialogue: 0,0:46:09.79,0:46:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These guys are driven by a lot of the same things that we're driven by.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:16.10,0:46:24.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They have an ego, they like challenge, and of course they like money and everything you can get for money.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:24.81,0:46:29.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the suspects implicated in the Gonzales case was a young hacker named Jonathan James.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:29.71,0:46:33.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Believing Gonzales' crimes would be pinned on him,
Dialogue: 0,0:46:33.21,0:46:36.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,James committed suicide during the investigation.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:36.32,0:46:40.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In an early press release describing the government's position in the case of Aaron Swartz,
Dialogue: 0,0:46:40.90,0:46:45.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Heymann's boss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusets, Carmen Ortiz, said this:
Dialogue: 0,0:46:46.57,0:46:53.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data, or dollars."
Dialogue: 0,0:46:53.30,0:46:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is not true. It's obviously not true.
Dialogue: 0,0:46:56.78,0:46:58.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not saying it's harmless,
Dialogue: 0,0:46:58.40,0:47:06.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm not saying that we shouldn't criminalize stealing of information,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:06.12,0:47:08.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you got to be much more subtle
Dialogue: 0,0:47:08.28,0:47:14.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in trying to figure out exactly which kinds of harms are harmful here.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:14.91,0:47:18.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the thing about a crowbar is, every time I break into a place with a crowbar,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:18.68,0:47:21.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I do damage. There is no doubt about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:21.77,0:47:23.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when Aaron writes a script that says
Dialogue: 0,0:47:23.59,0:47:28.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,download download download, a hundred times in a second,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:28.33,0:47:31.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's no obvious damage to anybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:31.05,0:47:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If he does that for the purpose of gathering an archive to do academic research on it,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:36.24,0:47:38.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is never any damage to anybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:38.41,0:47:42.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wasn't stealing. He wasn't selling what he got or giving it away.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:42.92,0:47:45.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was making a point, for as far as I could tell.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:45.64,0:47:48.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The arrest took its toll on Swartz.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:48.19,0:47:49.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He just wouldn't talk about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:49.82,0:47:51.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, he was very stressed.
Dialogue: 0,0:47:51.40,0:47:55.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you would thought that the FBI was going to come to your doorstep any day,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:55.61,0:47:59.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,anytime you went down the hall, even to do your laundry,
Dialogue: 0,0:47:59.01,0:48:03.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they'd break in into your apartment 'cause you left the door unlocked,
Dialogue: 0,0:48:03.14,0:48:06.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like...I'd be pretty stressed,
Dialogue: 0,0:48:06.54,0:48:12.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was clear, and so Aaron was always sort of like in a dour mood.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:18.43,0:48:23.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wouldn't give off any sensitive information about his whereabouts during this time,
Dialogue: 0,0:48:23.77,0:48:28.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because he was so afraid that the FBI would be waiting for him.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:30.78,0:48:35.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a time of unprecedented social and political activism.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:35.45,0:48:41.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Time Magazine would later name, as their 2011 Person of the Year, "The Protester".
Dialogue: 0,0:48:42.35,0:48:46.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a kind of hotbed of hacker activity going on.
Dialogue: 0,0:48:48.96,0:48:53.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,WikiLeaks had released a trove of diplomatic cables,
Dialogue: 0,0:48:53.62,0:48:56.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Manning had been under arrest at the time,
Dialogue: 0,0:48:56.55,0:49:00.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was unknown whether he was the source of the leak.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:00.22,0:49:04.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Anonymous, which is a kind of protest ensemble that
Dialogue: 0,0:49:04.80,0:49:07.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has a lot of hackers in its ranks,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:07.46,0:49:11.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were going on various sprees of sorts.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:11.46,0:49:14.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you compare that to what he did,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:14.11,0:49:18.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this stuff should have been left behind for MIT and JSTOR to deal with,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:18.15,0:49:22.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a kind of private, professional matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:22.10,0:49:27.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It should have never gotten the attention of the criminal system.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:28.46,0:49:30.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It just didn't belong there.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:36.46,0:49:39.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before he was indicted, Swartz was offered a plea deal
Dialogue: 0,0:49:39.92,0:49:43.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that involved three months in prison, time in an halfway house,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:43.23,0:49:45.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a year of home detention,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:45.45,0:49:47.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all without the use of a computer.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:47.99,0:49:52.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was on the condition that Swartz plead guilty to a felony.
Dialogue: 0,0:49:52.50,0:49:56.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here we are: we have no discovery, no evidence whatsoever
Dialogue: 0,0:49:56.76,0:49:58.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what the government's case is,
Dialogue: 0,0:49:58.36,0:50:01.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we have to make this immense decision
Dialogue: 0,0:50:01.86,0:50:05.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the lawyer is pushing you to do this,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:05.61,0:50:09.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the government is giving you a non-negotiable demand,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:09.78,0:50:13.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you're told that your likelihood of prevailing is small,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:13.33,0:50:17.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so whether you're guilty or not, you're better off taking the deal.
Dialogue: 0,0:50:18.27,0:50:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Boston has its own Computer Crimes Division,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:21.28,0:50:25.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lots of lawyers, probably more lawyers than they need.
Dialogue: 0,0:50:25.52,0:50:30.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, you know, you can imagine all sorts of cases that will be really hard to prosecute,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:30.63,0:50:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you've got some criminals in Russia,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:33.04,0:50:36.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or you've got some people inside of a corporation
Dialogue: 0,0:50:36.06,0:50:39.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are gonna five hundred dollar lawyers or seven hundred dollar-an-hour lawyers
Dialogue: 0,0:50:39.97,0:50:43.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sitting down against you, and then you've got this case with this kid,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:43.61,0:50:47.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is pretty easy to prove that he did something,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:47.92,0:50:52.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he's already marked himself as a troublemaker with the FBI,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:52.73,0:50:56.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so why not go as tough as you can against that guy?
Dialogue: 0,0:50:56.46,0:50:59.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's good for you the prosecutor. It's good for the Republic,
Dialogue: 0,0:50:59.44,0:51:02.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,'cause you're fighting all those terrorist types.
Dialogue: 0,0:51:02.23,0:51:03.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was so scared.
Dialogue: 0,0:51:03.85,0:51:05.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was so scared of having my computer seized.
Dialogue: 0,0:51:05.92,0:51:10.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was so scared of going to jail because of my computer being seized.
Dialogue: 0,0:51:10.05,0:51:15.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had confidential material from sources from my previous work on my laptop,
Dialogue: 0,0:51:15.39,0:51:20.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is, above all, my priority--is to keep my sources safe.
Dialogue: 0,0:51:20.53,0:51:25.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was so scared of what was going to happen to Ada.
Dialogue: 0,0:51:25.37,0:51:28.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron told me that they'd offered him a deal,
Dialogue: 0,0:51:28.05,0:51:32.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he finally just said that he would take it if I told him to,
Dialogue: 0,0:51:32.83,0:51:36.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I say--I came real close to saying, "Take it."
Dialogue: 0,0:51:37.60,0:51:42.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He had these--he had developed, like, serious political aspirations
Dialogue: 0,0:51:42.62,0:51:45.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the intervening time, between when, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:51:45.51,0:51:51.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that moment when he ended that entrepreneurial start-up life,
Dialogue: 0,0:51:51.25,0:51:56.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and begun this new life that had come to this political activism,
Dialogue: 0,0:51:56.97,0:52:03.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he just didn't believe that he could continue in his life with a felony.
Dialogue: 0,0:52:03.88,0:52:07.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, he said to me one day, we were walking by the White House,
Dialogue: 0,0:52:07.39,0:52:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he said to me, "They don't let felons work there."
Dialogue: 0,0:52:17.66,0:52:22.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you know he really--he really wanted that to be his life.
Dialogue: 0,0:52:22.29,0:52:25.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He hadn't killed anybody. He hadn't hurt anybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:52:25.56,0:52:28.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He hadn't, like, stolen money.
Dialogue: 0,0:52:28.33,0:52:32.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He hadn't done anything that seemed felony-worthy, and...
Dialogue: 0,0:52:34.64,0:52:39.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is this idea that there is no reason that he should be labelled a felon,
Dialogue: 0,0:52:39.33,0:52:42.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and taken away his right to vote in many states
Dialogue: 0,0:52:42.96,0:52:45.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for doing what he did. That's just outrageous.
Dialogue: 0,0:52:45.77,0:52:49.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It makes sense for him to be maybe fined a bunch of money,
Dialogue: 0,0:52:49.90,0:52:54.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or asked not to come back to MIT again.
Dialogue: 0,0:52:54.14,0:52:57.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But to be a felon? To face jail time?
Dialogue: 0,0:53:00.55,0:53:04.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz turned down the plea deal.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:04.06,0:53:06.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Heymann redoubled his efforts.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:06.87,0:53:12.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Heymann continued to press us at all levels.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:12.34,0:53:15.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even with the physical evidence seized from Aaron's
Dialogue: 0,0:53:15.08,0:53:18.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Acer computer harddrive and USB drive,
Dialogue: 0,0:53:18.29,0:53:21.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the prosecutors needed evidence of his motives.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:21.15,0:53:24.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why was Aaron Swartz downloading articles from JSTOR,
Dialogue: 0,0:53:24.70,0:53:28.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and just what did he plan to do with them?
Dialogue: 0,0:53:28.85,0:53:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The government claim was that he was planning to publish these.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:32.28,0:53:35.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We don't really know whether that was his real intention
Dialogue: 0,0:53:35.83,0:53:42.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because Aaron also had a history of doing projects where he'd analyze giant data sets of articles
Dialogue: 0,0:53:42.73,0:53:45.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to learn interesting things about them.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:45.16,0:53:48.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The best evidence for that was that when he was at Stanford,
Dialogue: 0,0:53:48.10,0:53:53.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he also downloaded the whole Westlaw legal database.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:53.12,0:53:55.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a project with Stanford law students,
Dialogue: 0,0:53:55.52,0:53:58.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz had downloaded the Westlaw legal database.
Dialogue: 0,0:53:58.32,0:54:02.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He uncovered troubling connections between funders of legal research
Dialogue: 0,0:54:02.49,0:54:04.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and favorable results.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:04.44,0:54:07.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He did this amazing analysis of for-profit companies
Dialogue: 0,0:54:07.32,0:54:10.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,giving money to law professors who wrote law review articles
Dialogue: 0,0:54:10.87,0:54:14.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which were then beneficial to, like, Exxon during an oil spill.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:14.93,0:54:19.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it was a very corrupt system of funding, you know, vanity research.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:19.44,0:54:22.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz had never released the Westlaw documents.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:22.68,0:54:25.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In theory, he could have been doing the same thing about the JSTOR database.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:25.52,0:54:27.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That would have been completely okay.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:27.29,0:54:32.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If he were, on the other hand, intending to create a competitive service to JSTOR,
Dialogue: 0,0:54:32.70,0:54:35.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, we're going to set up our own, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:54:35.06,0:54:39.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,access to the Harvard Law Review and charge, you know, money for it,
Dialogue: 0,0:54:39.09,0:54:41.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then, okay, now it seems like criminal violation
Dialogue: 0,0:54:41.97,0:54:45.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you are commercially trying to exploit this material,
Dialogue: 0,0:54:45.04,0:54:47.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it's kind of crazy to imagine that that was what he was doing.
Dialogue: 0,0:54:47.78,0:54:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, but then there's the middle case: well, what if he was just trying to liberate it for all of the developing world?
Dialogue: 0,0:54:53.52,0:54:56.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But depending on what he was doing, it creates a very different character
Dialogue: 0,0:54:56.86,0:55:00.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to how the law should be thinking about it. The government was prosecuting him
Dialogue: 0,0:55:00.54,0:55:03.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as if this was like a commercial criminal violation,
Dialogue: 0,0:55:03.63,0:55:06.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like stealing a whole bunch of credit card records, that it was that kind of crime.
Dialogue: 0,0:55:06.85,0:55:10.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't know what he was going to do with that database,
Dialogue: 0,0:55:10.12,0:55:12.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I heard from a friend of his that Aaron had told him
Dialogue: 0,0:55:12.80,0:55:18.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he was going to analyze the data for evidence of corporate funding of climate change research
Dialogue: 0,0:55:18.09,0:55:24.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that led to biased results, and I totally believe that.
Dialogue: 0,0:55:24.97,0:55:28.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was just told that Steve wanted to talk to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:55:29.25,0:55:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I thought maybe this was a way I could get out of this,
Dialogue: 0,0:55:32.98,0:55:35.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just exit the situation,
Dialogue: 0,0:55:35.09,0:55:38.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I didn't want to live in fear of having my computer seized.
Dialogue: 0,0:55:38.66,0:55:42.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't want to live in fear of having to go to jail on a contempt of court charge
Dialogue: 0,0:55:42.76,0:55:46.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if they tried to compel me to decrypt my computer.
Dialogue: 0,0:55:46.42,0:55:50.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When they came to me and said, "Steve wants to talk to you,"
Dialogue: 0,0:55:50.42,0:55:52.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that seemed reasonable.
Dialogue: 0,0:55:52.56,0:55:57.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They offered Norton what is know as a "Queen For A Day" letter or a proffer.
Dialogue: 0,0:55:57.31,0:56:00.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It allowed prosecutors to ask questions about Aaron's case.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:00.56,0:56:03.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Norton would be given immunity from prosecution herself,
Dialogue: 0,0:56:03.59,0:56:06.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for any information she revealed during the meeting.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:06.19,0:56:09.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't like it. I told my lawyers repeatedly
Dialogue: 0,0:56:09.33,0:56:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I didn't...this seemed fishy, I didn't like this, I didn't want immunity,
Dialogue: 0,0:56:13.28,0:56:15.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't need immunity, I hadn't done anything,
Dialogue: 0,0:56:15.95,0:56:18.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they were really, really stringent that there was--
Dialogue: 0,0:56:18.38,0:56:21.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they did not want me meeting the prosecutor without immunity.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:21.35,0:56:24.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Interviewer] But just to be clear, this is a "Queen For A Day" deal, a proffer.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:24.45,0:56:25.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Right, a proffer letter.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:25.50,0:56:30.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-In which you basically handed information to them in exchange for protection from prosecution.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:30.16,0:56:35.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-So, it wasn't handing information over. It was--at least that's not how I saw it--
Dialogue: 0,0:56:35.24,0:56:37.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was just having a discussion, having an interview with them.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:37.69,0:56:40.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-Well, they're asking you questions...\N-They're asking me questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:40.01,0:56:42.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-and they can ask about whatever they want...\N-Right.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:42.19,0:56:44.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- and whatever they learn...\N-I really...
Dialogue: 0,0:56:44.73,0:56:49.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-They can't have you prosecuted.\N-Right, and I repeatedly tried to go in naked.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:49.51,0:56:53.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I repeatedly--I repeatedly tried to turn down the proffer letter.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:53.47,0:56:56.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was ill. I was being pressured by my lawyers.
Dialogue: 0,0:56:56.41,0:57:00.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was confused. I was not doing well by this point.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:00.90,0:57:05.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was depressed, and I was scared, and I didn't understand the situation I was in.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:05.50,0:57:08.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had no idea why I was in this situation.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:08.88,0:57:13.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I hadn't done anything interesting, much less wrong.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:13.44,0:57:14.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We went out of our minds.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:14.95,0:57:18.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron was clearly very distraught about it. We were very distraught about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:18.71,0:57:20.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron's attorneys were very distraught about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:20.88,0:57:23.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We tried to get Quinn to change attorneys.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:23.73,0:57:28.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was very unused to being in a room with large men, well-armed,
Dialogue: 0,0:57:28.36,0:57:33.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are continually telling me I'm lying, and that I must have done something.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:33.66,0:57:37.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told them that this thing that they were prosecuting
Dialogue: 0,0:57:37.43,0:57:40.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wasn't a crime.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:40.76,0:57:42.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told them that they were on the wrong side of history.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:42.92,0:57:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I used that phrase. I said, "You're on the wrong side of history."
Dialogue: 0,0:57:48.30,0:57:53.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they looked bored. They didn't even look angry. They just looked bored,
Dialogue: 0,0:57:53.22,0:57:57.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it began to occur to me that we weren't having the same conversation.
Dialogue: 0,0:57:57.21,0:58:01.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, I told them plenty of things about, you know, why people would download journal articles,
Dialogue: 0,0:58:01.97,0:58:06.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and eventually--I don't remember what was around it--
Dialogue: 0,0:58:06.38,0:58:11.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mentioned that he'd done this blog post, the "Guerilla Open Access Manifesto".
Dialogue: 0,0:58:12.97,0:58:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the "Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto",
Dialogue: 0,0:58:16.37,0:58:20.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,supposedly written in July, 2008 in Italy.
Dialogue: 0,0:58:20.26,0:58:24.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:24.74,0:58:29.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage,\Npublished over centuries in books and journals,
Dialogue: 0,0:58:29.69,0:58:34.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:34.32,0:58:38.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Meanwhile, those who have been locked out are not standing idly by."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:38.05,0:58:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"You have been sneaking through holes and climbing over fences,
Dialogue: 0,0:58:40.24,0:58:44.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,liberating the information locked up by the publishers and sharing them with your friends."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:44.45,0:58:47.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"But all of this action goes on in the dark, hidden underground."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:47.53,0:58:50.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It's called stealing or piracy, as if sharing a wealth of knowledge were
Dialogue: 0,0:58:50.86,0:58:54.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the moral equivalent of plundering a ship and murdering its crew."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:54.53,0:58:57.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"But sharing isn't immoral — it's a moral imperative."
Dialogue: 0,0:58:57.46,0:59:02.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Only those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy."
Dialogue: 0,0:59:02.05,0:59:04.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"There's no justice in following unjust laws."
Dialogue: 0,0:59:04.27,0:59:08.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It's time to come into the light and, in a grand tradition of civil disobedience,
Dialogue: 0,0:59:08.23,0:59:11.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture."
Dialogue: 0,0:59:12.10,0:59:18.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Manifesto itself was allegedly written by four different people, and also edited by Norton.
Dialogue: 0,0:59:18.50,0:59:21.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it was Swartz who had signed his name to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:59:21.47,0:59:28.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When it's over, I go immediately to Aaron and tell him everything I can remember about it,
Dialogue: 0,0:59:28.68,0:59:30.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he gets very angry.
Dialogue: 0,0:59:34.52,0:59:37.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The things that I'd done shouldn't have added up that way.
Dialogue: 0,0:59:40.08,0:59:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I hadn't done anything wrong, and everything had gone wrong,
Dialogue: 0,0:59:47.26,0:59:49.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I was never...
Dialogue: 0,0:59:57.30,1:00:00.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm still angry.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:00.79,1:00:06.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm still angry that you could try your best with these people to do the right thing,
Dialogue: 0,1:00:06.61,1:00:09.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they'd turn everything against you.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:09.32,1:00:13.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they will hurt you with anything they can.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:15.53,1:00:19.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in that moment, I regret that I said what I did.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:19.99,1:00:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But my much larger regret is that we have settled for this.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:23.70,1:00:26.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That we are okay with this.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:26.09,1:00:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That we are okay with the justice system,
Dialogue: 0,1:00:27.66,1:00:32.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a system that tries to game people into little traps so they can ruin our lives.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:33.08,1:00:35.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So yeah, I wish I hadn't said that.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:35.54,1:00:41.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I'm much, much angrier that this is where I am.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:42.89,1:00:47.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That this is what we, as a people, think is okay.
Dialogue: 0,1:00:48.36,1:00:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They used every method that I think they could think of
Dialogue: 0,1:00:52.62,1:00:56.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get her to provide information which would be unhelpful to Aaron,
Dialogue: 0,1:00:56.89,1:01:00.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and helpful to the prosecution of Aaron,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:01.96,1:01:07.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I don't think she had information that was helpful to the government.
Dialogue: 0,1:01:08.03,1:01:12.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Months go by, as Swartz's friends and family await a looming indictment.
Dialogue: 0,1:01:12.06,1:01:17.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the meantime, Swartz was becoming a go-to expert on a series of internet issues.
Dialogue: 0,1:01:17.14,1:01:19.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[RT interviewer} ...a question to you then: Do you think that the internet is something
Dialogue: 0,1:01:19.83,1:01:25.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that should be considered a human right, and something that the government cannot take away from you?
Dialogue: 0,1:01:25.28,1:01:30.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yes, definitely, I mean this notion that national security is an excuse to shut down the internet,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:30.45,1:01:34.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's exactly what we heard in Egypt and Syria and all these other countries,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:34.02,1:01:38.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so, yeah, it's true, sites like WikiLeaks are going to be putting up some embarrassing material
Dialogue: 0,1:01:38.63,1:01:42.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what the U.S. government does, and people are going to be organizing to protest about it,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:42.55,1:01:45.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and try and change their government. You know, and that's a good thing,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:45.51,1:01:50.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's what all these First Amendment Rights of free expression, of freedom of association are all about,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:50.31,1:01:55.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so the notion that we should try and shut those down I think, just goes against very basic American principles.
Dialogue: 0,1:01:55.24,1:01:57.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A principle, I think, is one that our Founding Fathers would have understood.
Dialogue: 0,1:01:57.96,1:01:59.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If the internet had been around back then,
Dialogue: 0,1:01:59.96,1:02:04.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,instead of putting "post offices" in the Constitution, they would have put "ISPs".
Dialogue: 0,1:02:04.02,1:02:05.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[RT interviewer] Well, it's definitely interesting to see how far...
Dialogue: 0,1:02:05.58,1:02:10.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz meets activist Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, and the two begin to date.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:10.66,1:02:12.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Aaron] We need a massive global public outcry.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:12.22,1:02:15.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Taren] If there's no massive global public outcry, it won't create any change.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:15.19,1:02:18.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-You know, four people in this city should cause a massive global public outcry.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:18.96,1:02:21.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-You know, we need a petition signer.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:22.12,1:02:25.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without telling her specifics, he warned her he was involved in something
Dialogue: 0,1:02:25.49,1:02:27.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he called simply "The Bad Thing".
Dialogue: 0,1:02:27.69,1:02:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I had sort of crazy theories, like, that he was having an affair with Elizabeth Warren or something.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:33.09,1:02:37.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I speculated both Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, actually, but...
Dialogue: 0,1:02:38.28,1:02:41.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, sometime in probably late July, Aaron called me,
Dialogue: 0,1:02:42.28,1:02:47.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I happened to pick up, and he said, "The Bad Thing" might be in the news tomorrow.
Dialogue: 0,1:02:47.43,1:02:49.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you want me to tell you, or do you want to read about it in the news?"
Dialogue: 0,1:02:49.83,1:02:52.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I said, "Well, I want you to tell me."
Dialogue: 0,1:02:53.43,1:02:58.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron said, "Well, I've been--I've been arrested
Dialogue: 0,1:02:58.49,1:03:03.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for downloading too many academic journal articles, and they want to make an example out of me."
Dialogue: 0,1:03:04.33,1:03:11.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was like, "That's it? That's the big fuss? Really? It just doesn't sound like a very big deal."
Dialogue: 0,1:03:11.20,1:03:17.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On July 14, 2011, federal prosecutors indict Swartz on four felony counts.
Dialogue: 0,1:03:17.48,1:03:24.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He gets indicted on the same day that two people in England who are part of LulzSec get arrested,
Dialogue: 0,1:03:24.63,1:03:30.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a few other real hackers. And Aaron is just someone who kind of looks like a hacker,
Dialogue: 0,1:03:30.13,1:03:34.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,enough that they can, you know, put his head on a stake and put it on the gates.
Dialogue: 0,1:03:35.02,1:03:38.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron went to surrender, and they arrested him.
Dialogue: 0,1:03:39.47,1:03:42.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They then strip searched him,
Dialogue: 0,1:03:42.64,1:03:48.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took away his shoelaces, took away his belt, and left him in solitary confinement.
Dialogue: 0,1:03:50.12,1:03:54.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The District of Massachusetts United States Attorney's office released a statement
Dialogue: 0,1:03:54.55,1:03:57.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,saying, "Swartz faces up to 35 years in prison,
Dialogue: 0,1:03:57.88,1:04:00.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be followed by three years of supervised release,
Dialogue: 0,1:04:00.79,1:04:06.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,restitution, forfeiture and a fine of up to one million dollars."
Dialogue: 0,1:04:06.28,1:04:09.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is released on one hundred thousand dollars bail.
Dialogue: 0,1:04:09.37,1:04:12.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same day, the primary victim in the case, JSTOR,
Dialogue: 0,1:04:12.29,1:04:17.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,formally drops all charges against Swartz, and declines to pursue the case.
Dialogue: 0,1:04:18.08,1:04:21.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,JSTOR--they weren't our friends; they weren't helpful or friendly to us,
Dialogue: 0,1:04:21.58,1:04:25.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they also were just kind of like, "We're not part of this."
Dialogue: 0,1:04:25.38,1:04:30.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,JSTOR, and their parent company, ITHAKA, also sidestepped requests to talk with this film.
Dialogue: 0,1:04:30.87,1:04:33.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But at the time, they released a statement saying,
Dialogue: 0,1:04:33.54,1:04:37.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It was the government's decision whether to prosecute, not JSTOR's."
Dialogue: 0,1:04:38.50,1:04:42.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so it's our belief that, with that, the case will be over.
Dialogue: 0,1:04:42.74,1:04:48.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That we should be able to get Steve Heymann to drop the case, or settle it in some rational way.
Dialogue: 0,1:04:48.65,1:04:50.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the government refused.
Dialogue: 0,1:04:51.15,1:04:52.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Narrator] Why?
Dialogue: 0,1:04:55.14,1:04:58.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, because I think they wanted to make an example out of Aaron,
Dialogue: 0,1:04:58.38,1:05:01.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they said they wanted--the reason, why they wouldn't
Dialogue: 0,1:05:01.99,1:05:05.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,move on requiring a felony conviction and jail time,
Dialogue: 0,1:05:05.35,1:05:13.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that they wanted to use this case as a case for deterrence. They told us that.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:13.26,1:05:15.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Interviewer] They told you that?\N- Yes.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:15.32,1:05:17.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-This was going to be an example?\N-Yes.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:17.26,1:05:19.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-He was going to be made an example?\N- Yes.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:20.02,1:05:22.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Steve Heymann said that.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:22.03,1:05:26.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Deterring who? There's other people out there running around logging onto JSTOR,
Dialogue: 0,1:05:26.37,1:05:30.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and downloading the articles to make a political statement? I mean, who are they deterring?
Dialogue: 0,1:05:30.15,1:05:34.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It would be easier to understand the Obama administration's
Dialogue: 0,1:05:34.61,1:05:37.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,posture of supposedly being for deterrence
Dialogue: 0,1:05:37.44,1:05:41.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if this was an administration that, for instance,
Dialogue: 0,1:05:41.15,1:05:43.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prosecuted arguably the biggest economic crime
Dialogue: 0,1:05:43.52,1:05:45.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this country has seen in the last hundred years.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:45.53,1:05:49.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The crimes that were committed that led to the financial crisis on Wall Street.
Dialogue: 0,1:05:50.10,1:05:52.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you start deploying
Dialogue: 0,1:05:52.53,1:05:56.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the non-controversial idea of deterrence
Dialogue: 0,1:05:56.61,1:05:58.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only selectively
Dialogue: 0,1:05:58.46,1:06:02.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you stop making a dispassionate analysis of law-breaking
Dialogue: 0,1:06:02.14,1:06:06.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you started deciding to deploy law enforcement resources
Dialogue: 0,1:06:06.90,1:06:10.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,specifically on the basis of political ideology,
Dialogue: 0,1:06:10.39,1:06:15.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's not just undemocratic, it's supposed to be un-American.
Dialogue: 0,1:06:19.32,1:06:24.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Prosecutor Stephen Heymann later reportedly told MIT's outside counsel
Dialogue: 0,1:06:24.15,1:06:26.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the straw that broke the camel's back
Dialogue: 0,1:06:26.59,1:06:31.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a press release sent out by an organization Swartz founded called "Demand Progress".
Dialogue: 0,1:06:31.47,1:06:35.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to the MIT account, Heymann reacted to the short statement of support,
Dialogue: 0,1:06:35.59,1:06:39.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,calling it a "wild internet campaign" and a "foolish move"
Dialogue: 0,1:06:39.60,1:06:44.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that moved the case from a human one-on-one level to an institutional level.
Dialogue: 0,1:06:44.04,1:06:48.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was a poisonous combination: a prosecutor who didn't want to lose face,
Dialogue: 0,1:06:48.62,1:06:52.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who had a political career in the offing, maybe, and didn't want to have this come back and haunt them.
Dialogue: 0,1:06:52.99,1:06:57.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You spend how many tax dollars arresting someone for taking too many books out of the library,
Dialogue: 0,1:06:57.53,1:07:01.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then got your ass handed to you in court? No way!
Dialogue: 0,1:07:01.02,1:07:05.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I then moved to try to put as much pressure on MIT in various ways to get them
Dialogue: 0,1:07:05.55,1:07:10.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to go to the government, and request the government to stop the prosecution.
Dialogue: 0,1:07:11.47,1:07:14.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Interviewer] What was MIT's reaction to that?
Dialogue: 0,1:07:14.63,1:07:18.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There doesn't seem to be any reaction from MIT at that point.
Dialogue: 0,1:07:22.63,1:07:25.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MIT doesn't defend Aaron
Dialogue: 0,1:07:25.61,1:07:30.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which, to people inside of the MIT community, seems outrageous,
Dialogue: 0,1:07:30.31,1:07:35.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because MIT is a place that encourages hacking in the biggest sense of the word.
Dialogue: 0,1:07:35.72,1:07:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At MIT, the idea of going and running around on roofs and tunnels that you weren't allowed to be in
Dialogue: 0,1:07:40.73,1:07:45.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was not only a rite of passage, it was part of the MIT tour,
Dialogue: 0,1:07:45.83,1:07:50.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and lockpicking was a winter course at MIT.
Dialogue: 0,1:07:50.55,1:07:55.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They had the moral authority to stop it in its tracks.
Dialogue: 0,1:07:56.23,1:08:01.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MIT never stood up and took a position of saying to the Feds, "Don't do this."
Dialogue: 0,1:08:01.69,1:08:06.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We don't want you to do this. You're overreacting. This is too strong."
Dialogue: 0,1:08:06.20,1:08:08.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,...that I'm aware of.
Dialogue: 0,1:08:08.33,1:08:14.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They acted kind of like any corporation would. They sort of--they helped the government,
Dialogue: 0,1:08:14.49,1:08:21.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they didn't help us, unless they felt they had to, and they never tried to stop it.
Dialogue: 0,1:08:22.34,1:08:25.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MIT declined repeated requests to comment,
Dialogue: 0,1:08:25.23,1:08:30.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they later released a report saying they attempted to maintain a position of neutrality,
Dialogue: 0,1:08:30.01,1:08:35.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and believed Heymann and the U.S. Attorney's office did not care what MIT thought or said about the case.
Dialogue: 0,1:08:35.95,1:08:41.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,MIT's behaviour seemed really at odds with the MIT ethos.
Dialogue: 0,1:08:41.85,1:08:47.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You could argue that MIT turned a blind eye, and that was okay for them to do,
Dialogue: 0,1:08:47.16,1:08:52.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but taking that stance--taking that neutral stance, in and of itself--was taking a pro-prosecutor stance.
Dialogue: 0,1:08:52.68,1:08:55.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you look at Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak,
Dialogue: 0,1:08:55.83,1:09:01.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they started by selling a Blue Box, which was a thing designed to defraud the phone company.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:01.63,1:09:04.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you look at Bill Gates and Paul Allen,
Dialogue: 0,1:09:04.67,1:09:08.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they initially started their business by using computer time at Harvard,
Dialogue: 0,1:09:08.43,1:09:11.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was pretty clearly against the rules.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:11.46,1:09:13.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The difference between Aaron and the people I just mentioned
Dialogue: 0,1:09:13.33,1:09:17.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that Aaron wanted to make the world a better place, he didn't just want to make money.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:18.98,1:09:23.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz continues to be outspoken on a variety of internet issues.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:23.62,1:09:28.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, the reason the internet works is because of the competitive marketplace of ideas,
Dialogue: 0,1:09:28.85,1:09:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what we need to be focusing on is getting more information about our government, more accessibility,
Dialogue: 0,1:09:32.98,1:09:38.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more discussion, more debate, but instead it seems like what Congress is focused on is shutting things down.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:38.67,1:09:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron thought he could change the world just by explaining the world very clearly to people.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:44.37,1:09:48.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[RT interviewer] Flame can literally control your computer, and make it spy on you.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:48.74,1:09:52.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Welcome, Aaron. Good to have you back on the show here.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:52.24,1:09:56.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, just like spies used to in olden days, put microphones and tap what people were saying,
Dialogue: 0,1:09:56.48,1:09:58.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now they're using computers to do the same things.
Dialogue: 0,1:09:58.96,1:10:01.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Narrator] Swartz's political activity continues,
Dialogue: 0,1:10:01.73,1:10:06.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his attention turning to a bill moving through Congress designed to curb online piracy.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:06.80,1:10:08.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was called "SOPA".
Dialogue: 0,1:10:08.94,1:10:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Activists like Peter Eckersley saw it as an enormous overreach,
Dialogue: 0,1:10:12.72,1:10:16.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,threatening the technical integrity of the Internet itself.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:16.13,1:10:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Ekersley] And one of the first things I did was to call Aaron.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:18.42,1:10:21.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I said, "Can we do a big online campaign against this?"
Dialogue: 0,1:10:21.62,1:10:24.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"This isn't a bill about copyright."
Dialogue: 0,1:10:24.79,1:10:26.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It's not?"
Dialogue: 0,1:10:26.42,1:10:30.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"No," he said, "it's a bill about the freedom to connect."
Dialogue: 0,1:10:30.34,1:10:32.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I was listening.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:32.46,1:10:35.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he thought about it for a while, and then said, "Yes."
Dialogue: 0,1:10:35.92,1:10:38.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he went and founded Demand Progress.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:38.09,1:10:44.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Demand Progress is an online activism organization, we've got around a million and a half members now,
Dialogue: 0,1:10:44.18,1:10:47.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but started in the fall of 2010.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:47.26,1:10:50.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron was one of the most prominent people in a community of people
Dialogue: 0,1:10:50.09,1:10:55.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who helped lead organizing around social justice issues at the federal level in this country.
Dialogue: 0,1:10:55.39,1:11:01.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,SOPA was the bill that was intended to curtail online piracy of music and movies,
Dialogue: 0,1:11:01.19,1:11:06.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but what it did was basically take a sledgehammer to a problem that needed a scalpel.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:07.16,1:11:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If passed, the law would allow a company to cut off finances to entire websites without due process,
Dialogue: 0,1:11:13.12,1:11:16.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even to force Google to exclude their links.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:16.33,1:11:20.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All they needed was a single claim of copyright infringement.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:20.58,1:11:26.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It pitted the titans of traditional media against a new and now far more sophisticated remix culture.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:26.78,1:11:30.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It makes everyone who runs a website into a policeman,
Dialogue: 0,1:11:30.23,1:11:33.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if they don't do their job of making sure that nobody on their site uses it for anything
Dialogue: 0,1:11:33.61,1:11:38.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's even potentially illegal, the entire site can get shut down without even so much as a trial.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:38.85,1:11:43.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was over the top, I mean, this was a catastrophe.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:43.42,1:11:51.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This bill poses a serious threat to speech and civil liberties for all who use the internet.
Dialogue: 0,1:11:51.63,1:11:55.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were only a handful of us who said, "Look, we're not for piracy either,
Dialogue: 0,1:11:55.57,1:12:00.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it makes no sense to destroy the architecture of the internet,
Dialogue: 0,1:12:00.27,1:12:05.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the domain name system and so much that makes it free and open in the name of fighting piracy,
Dialogue: 0,1:12:05.67,1:12:07.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Aaron got that right away.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:07.44,1:12:11.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The freedoms, guaranteed in our Constitution, the freedoms our country had been built on
Dialogue: 0,1:12:11.56,1:12:13.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would be suddenly deleted.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:13.74,1:12:18.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,New technology, instead of bringing us greater freedom, would have snuffed out fundamental rights
Dialogue: 0,1:12:18.61,1:12:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we'd always taken for granted.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:21.28,1:12:27.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I realized that day, talking to Peter, that I couldn't let that happen.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:28.48,1:12:32.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When SOPA was introduced in October, 2011, it was considered inevitable.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:32.92,1:12:37.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our strategy, when it first came out, was to hopefully slow the bill down,
Dialogue: 0,1:12:37.42,1:12:41.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,maybe weaken it a little bit but, even we
Dialogue: 0,1:12:41.37,1:12:44.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn't think that we would be able to stop this bill.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:45.68,1:12:51.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Having worked in Washington, what you learn is that, typically in Washington,
Dialogue: 0,1:12:51.46,1:12:57.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the legislative fights are fights between different sets of corporate monied interests.
Dialogue: 0,1:12:57.70,1:13:02.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're all duking it out to pass legislation, and the fights that are the closest
Dialogue: 0,1:13:02.09,1:13:07.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are when you have one set of corporate interests against another set of corporate interests,
Dialogue: 0,1:13:07.07,1:13:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're financially equally matched in terms of campaign contributions and lobbying.
Dialogue: 0,1:13:10.75,1:13:12.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those are the closest ones.
Dialogue: 0,1:13:12.66,1:13:16.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The ones that aren't even fights, typically, are ones
Dialogue: 0,1:13:16.41,1:13:20.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where all the money is on one side, all the corporations are on one side,
Dialogue: 0,1:13:20.69,1:13:23.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's just millions of people on the other side.
Dialogue: 0,1:13:25.07,1:13:30.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I haven't seen anything like PIPA and SOPA in all my time in public service.
Dialogue: 0,1:13:31.05,1:13:37.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were more than forty United States senators on that bill as co-sponsors,
Dialogue: 0,1:13:37.15,1:13:40.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they were already a long, long way to getting the
Dialogue: 0,1:13:40.53,1:13:43.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sixty votes to have it clear all the procedural hoops.
Dialogue: 0,1:13:44.46,1:13:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even I began to doubt myself. It was a rough period.
Dialogue: 0,1:13:48.11,1:13:53.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz and Demand Progress were able to marshal enormous support using traditional outreach,
Dialogue: 0,1:13:53.47,1:13:59.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,combined with commonly used voiceover IP, to make it very easy for people to call Congress.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:00.01,1:14:03.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've never met anybody else who was able to operate at his level
Dialogue: 0,1:14:03.85,1:14:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,both on the technological side and on the campaign strategy side.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:08.61,1:14:12.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Millions of people contacted Congress and signed anti-SOPA petitions.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:12.95,1:14:15.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Congress was caught off guard.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:15.38,1:14:20.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was just something about watching those clueless members of Congress debate the bill,
Dialogue: 0,1:14:20.43,1:14:22.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,watching them insist they could regulate the internet,
Dialogue: 0,1:14:22.69,1:14:25.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a bunch of nerds couldn't possibly stop them.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:25.25,1:14:26.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am not a nerd.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:26.39,1:14:27.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm just not enough of a nerd...
Dialogue: 0,1:14:27.93,1:14:31.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe we oughta ask some nerds what this thing really does. [laughter]
Dialogue: 0,1:14:31.12,1:14:33.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's have a hearing, bring in the nerds...
Dialogue: 0,1:14:33.35,1:14:35.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[laughter]
Dialogue: 0,1:14:35.83,1:14:37.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Really?
Dialogue: 0,1:14:37.55,1:14:40.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[laughter]
Dialogue: 0,1:14:40.09,1:14:41.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Nerds"?
Dialogue: 0,1:14:41.38,1:14:42.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[laughter]
Dialogue: 0,1:14:42.10,1:14:45.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, I think, actually the word you're looking for is "experts"...
Dialogue: 0,1:14:45.66,1:14:47.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[laughter]
Dialogue: 0,1:14:47.10,1:14:51.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to enlighten you so your laws don't backfire [audience laughter and applause]
Dialogue: 0,1:14:51.60,1:14:53.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and break the internet.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:53.09,1:14:56.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We use the term "geek" but we're allowed to use that because we are geeks.
Dialogue: 0,1:14:56.64,1:15:01.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fact that it got as far as it did, without them talking to any technical experts,
Dialogue: 0,1:15:01.58,1:15:04.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reflects the fact that there is a problem in this town.
Dialogue: 0,1:15:04.81,1:15:12.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm looking for somebody to come before this body, and testify in a hearing and say, "This is why they're wrong."
Dialogue: 0,1:15:12.27,1:15:15.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There used to be an office that provided science and technology advice,
Dialogue: 0,1:15:15.41,1:15:19.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and members could go to them and say, "Help me understand X,Y,Z."
Dialogue: 0,1:15:19.21,1:15:22.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Gingrich killed it. He said it was a waste of money.
Dialogue: 0,1:15:22.30,1:15:26.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ever since then, Congress has plunged into the Dark Ages.
Dialogue: 0,1:15:26.22,1:15:29.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think anybody really thought that SOPA could be beaten, including Aaron.
Dialogue: 0,1:15:30.27,1:15:34.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was worth trying, but it didn't seem winnable,
Dialogue: 0,1:15:34.53,1:15:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I remember, maybe a few months later, I remember him just turning to me and being like,
Dialogue: 0,1:15:38.58,1:15:40.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I think we might win this."
Dialogue: 0,1:15:40.67,1:15:42.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was like, "That would be amazing."
Dialogue: 0,1:15:44.25,1:15:46.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Calls to Congress continue.
Dialogue: 0,1:15:46.43,1:15:50.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the domain hosting site Go Daddy becomes a supporter of the bill,
Dialogue: 0,1:15:50.14,1:15:55.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tens of thousands of users transferred their domain names in protest.
Dialogue: 0,1:15:55.21,1:16:00.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Within a week, a humbled Go Daddy reverses their position on SOPA.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:00.15,1:16:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the Congress people that supported the record and movie industries,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:06.30,1:16:10.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,realized that there was this backlash, they kind of scaled the bill back a little bit.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:10.39,1:16:15.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You could see the curve happening. You could see that our arguments were starting to resonate.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:15.88,1:16:18.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was like Aaron had been striking a match and it was being blown out,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:18.90,1:16:20.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,striking another one, and it was being blown out,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:20.72,1:16:24.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and finally he'd managed to catch enough kindling that the flame actually caught,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:24.08,1:16:26.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then it turned into this roaring blaze.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:26.91,1:16:31.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On January 16, 2012, the White House issued a statement
Dialogue: 0,1:16:31.37,1:16:34.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,saying they didn't support the bill.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:34.26,1:16:36.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then this happened:
Dialogue: 0,1:16:36.20,1:16:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a big believer that we should be dealing with issues of piracy,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:40.20,1:16:44.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we should deal with them in a serious way, but this bill is not the right bill.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:44.74,1:16:48.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When Jimmy Wales put his support toward blacking out Wikipedia,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:48.86,1:16:52.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the number five most popular website in the world,
Dialogue: 0,1:16:52.37,1:16:58.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is a website that's seven percent of all of the clicks on anywhere on the internet.
Dialogue: 0,1:16:58.53,1:17:00.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wikipedia went black.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:00.13,1:17:01.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Reddit went black.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:01.51,1:17:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Craigslist went black.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:03.30,1:17:06.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The phone lines on Capitol Hill flat out melted.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:06.11,1:17:10.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Members of Congress started rushing to issue statements retracting their support for the bill
Dialogue: 0,1:17:10.84,1:17:13.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they were promoting just a couple days ago.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:13.55,1:17:17.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Within 24 hours, the number of opponents of SOPA in Congress
Dialogue: 0,1:17:17.85,1:17:19.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,went from this...
Dialogue: 0,1:17:19.17,1:17:20.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to this.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:22.71,1:17:29.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To see congressmen and senators slowly flip sides throughout the day of the blackout
Dialogue: 0,1:17:29.82,1:17:31.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was pretty unbelievable.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:31.38,1:17:34.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was like a hundred representative swing.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:34.57,1:17:38.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that was when, as hard as it was for me to believe, after all this,
Dialogue: 0,1:17:38.73,1:17:40.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we had won.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:40.76,1:17:42.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The thing that everyone said was impossible,
Dialogue: 0,1:17:42.47,1:17:46.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that some of the biggest companies in the world had written off as kind of a pipe dream,
Dialogue: 0,1:17:46.41,1:17:48.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had happened.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:48.55,1:17:50.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We did it.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:50.80,1:17:52.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We won.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:55.40,1:17:58.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a historic week in internet politics--maybe American politics.
Dialogue: 0,1:17:58.57,1:18:03.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The thing that we heard from people in Washington, D.C., from the staffers on Capitol Hill was:
Dialogue: 0,1:18:03.84,1:18:08.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they received more emails and more phone calls on SOPA Blackout Day
Dialogue: 0,1:18:08.54,1:18:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than they'd ever received about anything.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:10.75,1:18:12.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that was an extremely exciting moment.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:12.82,1:18:17.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was the moment when the internet had grown up, politically.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:17.64,1:18:21.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was exhilarating because it's hard to believe it actually happened.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:21.20,1:18:25.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's hard to believe a bill with so much financial power behind it
Dialogue: 0,1:18:25.39,1:18:29.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn't simply sail through the Congress.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:29.15,1:18:32.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And not only did not sail through, it didn't pass at all.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:33.78,1:18:36.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's easy sometimes to feel like you're powereless,
Dialogue: 0,1:18:36.48,1:18:40.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like when you come out on the streets and you march and you yell and nobody hears you.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:40.53,1:18:43.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I'm here to tell you today, you are powerful.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:43.02,1:18:45.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Crowd cheers]
Dialogue: 0,1:18:45.72,1:18:50.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, yeah, maybe sometimes you feel like you're not being listened to, but I'm here to tell you that you are.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:50.55,1:18:53.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You are being listened to. You are making a difference.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:53.12,1:18:56.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can stop this bill if you don't stop fighting.
Dialogue: 0,1:18:56.93,1:18:59.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Crowd cheers]
Dialogue: 0,1:18:59.58,1:19:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stop PIPA.
Dialogue: 0,1:19:00.62,1:19:02.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stop SOPA.
Dialogue: 0,1:19:02.59,1:19:03.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Crowd cheers]
Dialogue: 0,1:19:03.88,1:19:07.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some of the biggest internet companies, to put it frankly, would benefit
Dialogue: 0,1:19:07.37,1:19:11.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a world in which their little competitors could get censored.
Dialogue: 0,1:19:12.43,1:19:14.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can't let that happen.
Dialogue: 0,1:19:14.64,1:19:19.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For him, it was more important to be sure that you made a small change
Dialogue: 0,1:19:19.55,1:19:23.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than to play a small part in a big change.
Dialogue: 0,1:19:23.18,1:19:27.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But SOPA was like playing a major part in a major change,
Dialogue: 0,1:19:27.80,1:19:30.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so for him, it was kind of this proof of concept
Dialogue: 0,1:19:30.75,1:19:34.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like, "Okay, what I want to do with my life is change the world."
Dialogue: 0,1:19:34.80,1:19:39.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I think about it in this really scientific way of measuring my impact,
Dialogue: 0,1:19:39.82,1:19:42.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this shows that it's possible."
Dialogue: 0,1:19:42.73,1:19:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The thing that I want to do with my life is possible."
Dialogue: 0,1:19:45.58,1:19:48.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I have proved that I can do it,
Dialogue: 0,1:19:48.65,1:19:50.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I, Aaron Swartz, can change the world."
Dialogue: 0,1:19:50.73,1:19:57.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a guy who never really thought he had done much--which was Aaron--
Dialogue: 0,1:19:59.16,1:20:04.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was one of the few moments where you could really see
Dialogue: 0,1:20:04.12,1:20:06.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he felt like he had done something good,
Dialogue: 0,1:20:06.85,1:20:11.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feeling like here is his maybe one and only victory lap.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:13.54,1:20:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone said there was no way we could stop SOPA.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:15.90,1:20:17.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We stopped it.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:17.34,1:20:22.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is three outrageously good victories, and the year isn't even over yet.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:22.08,1:20:26.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, if there's a time to be positive, it's now.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:26.69,1:20:29.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, he wins at SOPA a year after he's arrested.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:29.80,1:20:33.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not unambiguously happy moments. There's a lot going on.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:33.36,1:20:39.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's so attuned towards participating in the political process, you can't stop him.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:39.77,1:20:44.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The list of organizations Swartz founded or co-founded is enormous,
Dialogue: 0,1:20:44.30,1:20:47.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and years before Edward Snowden would expose widespread internet surveillance,
Dialogue: 0,1:20:47.86,1:20:50.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz was already concerned.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:50.78,1:20:54.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is shocking to think that the accountability is so lax
Dialogue: 0,1:20:54.58,1:20:59.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they don't even have sort of basic statistics about how big the spying program is.
Dialogue: 0,1:20:59.59,1:21:04.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if the answer is: "Oh, we're spying on so many people we can't possibly even count them"
Dialogue: 0,1:21:04.01,1:21:06.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then that's an awful lot of people.
Dialogue: 0,1:21:06.10,1:21:09.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It'd be one thing if they said, "Look, we know the number of telephones we're spying on,
Dialogue: 0,1:21:09.74,1:21:12.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we don't know exactly how many real people that corresponds to."
Dialogue: 0,1:21:12.43,1:21:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they just came back and said, "We can't give you a number at all."
Dialogue: 0,1:21:15.76,1:21:18.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's pretty--I mean, that's scary, is what it is.
Dialogue: 0,1:21:18.73,1:21:25.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they put incredible pressure on him, took away all of the money he had made.
Dialogue: 0,1:21:25.73,1:21:29.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They, you know, threatened to take away his physical freedom.
Dialogue: 0,1:21:29.58,1:21:34.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why'd they do it, you know? I mean, well, why are they going after whistleblowers?
Dialogue: 0,1:21:34.23,1:21:38.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, why are they going after people who tell the truth
Dialogue: 0,1:21:38.03,1:21:46.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about all sorts of things, I mean, from the banks, you know, to war, to just sort of government transparency.
Dialogue: 0,1:21:46.35,1:21:49.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So secrecy serves those who are already in power,
Dialogue: 0,1:21:49.63,1:21:54.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we are living in an era of secrecy that coincides with an era where the government is doing, also,
Dialogue: 0,1:21:54.89,1:21:58.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a lot of things that are probably illegal and unconstitutional.
Dialogue: 0,1:21:58.60,1:22:01.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, those two things are not coincidences.
Dialogue: 0,1:22:01.12,1:22:04.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's very clear that this technology has been developed
Dialogue: 0,1:22:04.48,1:22:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not for small countries overseas, but right here, for use in the United States, by the U.S. government.
Dialogue: 0,1:22:09.62,1:22:14.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The problem with the spying program is it's this sort of long, slow expansion, you know,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:14.38,1:22:16.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going back to the Nixon administration, right,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:16.54,1:22:19.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,obviously it became big after 9/11 under George W. Bush,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:19.69,1:22:23.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Obama has continued to expand it, and the problems have slowly grown worse and worse,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:23.62,1:22:26.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there's never been this moment you can point to and say,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:26.28,1:22:31.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Okay, we need to galvanize opposition today because today is when it matters..."
Dialogue: 0,1:22:32.46,1:22:38.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The prosecution, in my estimation of Aaron Swartz, was about sending a particular, laserlike message
Dialogue: 0,1:22:38.65,1:22:45.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a group of people that the Obama administration sees as politically threatening,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:47.34,1:22:53.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is, essentially, the hacker, the information, and the democracy activist community,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:53.87,1:22:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the message that the Obama administration wanted to send to that particular community was,
Dialogue: 0,1:22:59.46,1:23:04.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in my estimation, "We know you have the ability to make trouble for the establishment,
Dialogue: 0,1:23:04.42,1:23:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so we are going to try to make an example out of Aaron Swartz
Dialogue: 0,1:23:08.52,1:23:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to scare as many of you as possible into not making that trouble."
Dialogue: 0,1:23:13.58,1:23:17.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the government said, "Oh, the legal opinions we're using
Dialogue: 0,1:23:17.26,1:23:20.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to legalize the spying program are also classified,
Dialogue: 0,1:23:20.38,1:23:23.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we can't even tell you which laws we're using to spy on you."
Dialogue: 0,1:23:23.64,1:23:26.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, every time they can say, "Oh, this is another instance of cyberwar.
Dialogue: 0,1:23:26.46,1:23:29.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The cybercriminals are attacking us again. We're all in danger. We're all under threat."
Dialogue: 0,1:23:29.90,1:23:33.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They use those as excuses to push through more and more dangerous laws.
Dialogue: 0,1:23:35.20,1:23:40.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Interviewer] And so just to follow--personally, how do you feel the fight is going?
Dialogue: 0,1:23:40.95,1:23:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's up to you!
Dialogue: 0,1:23:41.98,1:23:44.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-I know. It's just that we gotta, you know...
Dialogue: 0,1:23:47.36,1:23:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, there's sort of these two polarizing perspectives, right,
Dialogue: 0,1:23:52.62,1:23:57.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everything is great, the internet has created all this freedom and liberty, and everything's going to be fantastic
Dialogue: 0,1:23:57.12,1:23:58.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or everything is terrible,
Dialogue: 0,1:23:58.51,1:24:01.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the internet has created all these tools for cracking down and spying,
Dialogue: 0,1:24:01.47,1:24:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and controlling what we say.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:03.68,1:24:05.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the thing is, both are true, right?
Dialogue: 0,1:24:05.82,1:24:09.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The internet has done both, and both are kind of amazing and astonishing
Dialogue: 0,1:24:09.80,1:24:12.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and which one will win out in the long run is up to us.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:12.60,1:24:17.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It doesn't make sense to say, "Oh, one is doing better than the other." You know, they're both true.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:17.32,1:24:21.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's up to us which ones we emphasize and which ones we take advantage of
Dialogue: 0,1:24:21.15,1:24:23.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they're both there, and they're both always going to be there.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:28.95,1:24:35.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On September 12, 2012, federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment against Swartz,
Dialogue: 0,1:24:35.01,1:24:40.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,adding additional counts of wire fraud, unauthorized access to a computer, and computer fraud.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:40.46,1:24:45.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, instead of four felony counts, Swartz was facing thirteen.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:45.59,1:24:48.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The prosecution's leverage had dramatically increased,
Dialogue: 0,1:24:48.56,1:24:52.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as did Swartz's potential jail time and fines.
Dialogue: 0,1:24:52.13,1:24:55.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They filed a separate indictment to add more charges,
Dialogue: 0,1:24:55.69,1:25:01.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they had a theory about why this conduct constituted a number of federal crimes,
Dialogue: 0,1:25:01.88,1:25:06.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that a very significant sentence could attach to it under the law.
Dialogue: 0,1:25:06.86,1:25:10.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That theory, and much of the prosecution's case against Swartz
Dialogue: 0,1:25:10.66,1:25:13.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,involved a law created originally in 1986.
Dialogue: 0,1:25:13.95,1:25:16.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is called the "Computer Fraud and Abuse Act".
Dialogue: 0,1:25:16.67,1:25:17.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Dialogue: 0,1:25:17.96,1:25:21.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was inspired by the movie "War Games" with Matthew Broderick--great movie.
Dialogue: 0,1:25:21.89,1:25:23.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Broderick] I have you now.
Dialogue: 0,1:25:23.35,1:25:27.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this movie, a kid gets the ability, through the magic of computer networks
Dialogue: 0,1:25:27.74,1:25:30.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to launch a nuclear attack.
Dialogue: 0,1:25:30.13,1:25:33.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[missiles firing up]
Dialogue: 0,1:25:33.50,1:25:37.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, that's not actually possible, and it certainly wasn't possible in the '80s
Dialogue: 0,1:25:37.67,1:25:41.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but apparently this movie scared Congress enough to
Dialogue: 0,1:25:41.38,1:25:44.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pass the original Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Dialogue: 0,1:25:44.59,1:25:48.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a law that's just behind the times, for example, it penalizes
Dialogue: 0,1:25:48.87,1:25:54.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a terms of service kind of arrangement. You can have something like
Dialogue: 0,1:25:54.10,1:26:01.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eHarmony or Match.com, and somebody sort of inflates their own personal characteristics,
Dialogue: 0,1:26:01.43,1:26:05.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all of a sudden, depending on the jurisdiction and the prosecutors,
Dialogue: 0,1:26:05.70,1:26:07.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they could be in a whole host of troubles.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:07.96,1:26:10.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all know what "Terms of Use" are.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:10.14,1:26:14.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most people don't read them, but not abiding by their terms could mean
Dialogue: 0,1:26:14.19,1:26:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you are committing a felony.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:15.86,1:26:18.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The website Terms of Service often say things like:
Dialogue: 0,1:26:18.54,1:26:22.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Be nice to each other", or "Don't do anything that's improper."
Dialogue: 0,1:26:22.44,1:26:27.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The idea that the Criminal Law has anything to say about these kinds of violations,
Dialogue: 0,1:26:27.19,1:26:29.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think strikes most people as crazy.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:29.100,1:26:32.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The examples get even more "crazy":
Dialogue: 0,1:26:32.96,1:26:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Until it was changed in March of 2013, the Terms of Use on the website of Hearst's Seventeen magazine
Dialogue: 0,1:26:39.48,1:26:42.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,said you had to be eighteen in order to read it.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:42.78,1:26:46.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would say that the way the CFAA has been interpreted by the Justice Department,
Dialogue: 0,1:26:46.67,1:26:48.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we are probably all breaking the law.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:49.20,1:26:54.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vague and prone to misuse, the CFAA has become a one-size-fits-all hammer
Dialogue: 0,1:26:54.54,1:26:57.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a wide range of computer-related disputes.
Dialogue: 0,1:26:57.14,1:27:00.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though not the only factor in his case,
Dialogue: 0,1:27:00.16,1:27:04.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eleven of the thirteen charges against Swartz involved the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Dialogue: 0,1:27:07.25,1:27:11.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The question "Why?" hangs over much of the story of Aaron Swartz.
Dialogue: 0,1:27:11.82,1:27:16.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just what was motivating the government, and what would their case have been?
Dialogue: 0,1:27:16.16,1:27:19.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Department of Justice declined requests for answers,
Dialogue: 0,1:27:19.37,1:27:23.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but Professor Orin Kerr is a former prosecutor who has studied the case.
Dialogue: 0,1:27:23.69,1:27:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I think I come about this case from a different direction than other people on a number of reasons:
Dialogue: 0,1:27:28.06,1:27:31.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a federal prosecutor at the Justice Department for three years
Dialogue: 0,1:27:31.20,1:27:34.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before I started teaching. The government came forward
Dialogue: 0,1:27:34.19,1:27:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with an indictment based on what crimes they thought were committed,
Dialogue: 0,1:27:38.32,1:27:42.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just as a purely lawyer's matter, looking at the precedents, looking at the statute,
Dialogue: 0,1:27:42.06,1:27:45.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looking at the history, looking at the cases that are out there so far,
Dialogue: 0,1:27:45.80,1:27:48.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it was a fair indictment based on that.
Dialogue: 0,1:27:48.94,1:27:51.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can debate whether they should have charged this case.
Dialogue: 0,1:27:51.40,1:27:56.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's just a lot of disagreement. Some people are on the Open Access side, some people are not.
Dialogue: 0,1:27:57.68,1:28:03.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the government took Swartz's "Guerilla Open Access Manifesto" very seriously,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:04.09,1:28:10.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think they saw him as somebody who was committed, as a moral imperative,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:10.08,1:28:15.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to breaking the law, to overcome a law that Swartz saw as unjust,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:15.20,1:28:20.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in a democracy, if you think a law is unjust, there are ways of changing that law.
Dialogue: 0,1:28:20.94,1:28:24.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's going to Congress as Swartz did so masterfully with SOPA,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:24.68,1:28:28.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or you can violate that law in a way to try to nullify that law,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:28.44,1:28:34.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think what was driving the prosecution was the sense that Swartz was committed,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:34.20,1:28:39.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not just to breaking the law, but to really making sure that law was nullified.
Dialogue: 0,1:28:39.83,1:28:43.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That everyone would have access to the database in a way that
Dialogue: 0,1:28:43.66,1:28:47.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you couldn't put the toothpaste back into the tube.
Dialogue: 0,1:28:47.33,1:28:51.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It would be done, and Swartz's side would win.
Dialogue: 0,1:28:52.48,1:28:56.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a big disagreement in society as to whether that is an unjust law,
Dialogue: 0,1:28:56.08,1:29:00.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ultimately, that is a decision for the American people to make, working through Congress.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:00.14,1:29:03.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the second problem is, I think, we're still trying to figure out:
Dialogue: 0,1:29:03.71,1:29:07.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What's the line between less serious offences and more serious offences?
Dialogue: 0,1:29:07.87,1:29:12.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're now entering this different environment of computers and computer misuse,
Dialogue: 0,1:29:12.06,1:29:16.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we don't yet have a really strong sense of exactly what these lines are
Dialogue: 0,1:29:16.75,1:29:19.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because we're just working that out.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:19.36,1:29:22.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a poor use of prosecutorial discretion.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:22.21,1:29:25.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The hammer that the Justice Department has to scare people with
Dialogue: 0,1:29:25.88,1:29:28.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just gets bigger and bigger and bigger,
Dialogue: 0,1:29:28.51,1:29:32.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so most people just--you know, you can't roll the dice with your life like that.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:32.96,1:29:35.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Should we tap somebody's phone? Should we film them?
Dialogue: 0,1:29:35.43,1:29:39.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Should we turn somebody and get them to testify against these other people?
Dialogue: 0,1:29:39.39,1:29:42.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's how federal agents and prosecutors think.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:42.36,1:29:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They build cases. They make cases.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:46.92,1:29:51.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz was caught in the gears of a brutal criminal justice system that could not turn back,
Dialogue: 0,1:29:51.63,1:29:57.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a machine that has made America the country with the highest rate of incarceration in the world.
Dialogue: 0,1:29:57.12,1:30:02.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have, in this country, allowed ourselves to be captured by the politics of fear and anger,
Dialogue: 0,1:30:02.73,1:30:08.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and anything we're afraid of, like the future of the internet and access,
Dialogue: 0,1:30:08.44,1:30:13.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and anything we're angry about, instinctively creates a criminal justice intervention,
Dialogue: 0,1:30:13.70,1:30:19.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we've used jail, prison, and punishment to resolve a whole host of problems
Dialogue: 0,1:30:19.50,1:30:23.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, historically, were never seen as criminal justice problems.
Dialogue: 0,1:30:23.17,1:30:28.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The impulse to threaten, indict, prosecute, which is part of what
Dialogue: 0,1:30:28.42,1:30:33.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has created this debate and controversy over online access to information on the internet,
Dialogue: 0,1:30:33.02,1:30:35.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is very consistent with what we've seen in other areas.
Dialogue: 0,1:30:35.46,1:30:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The one difference is that the people who are usually targeted and victimized
Dialogue: 0,1:30:39.98,1:30:45.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by these kinds of criminal and carceral responses are typically poor and minority.
Dialogue: 0,1:30:47.60,1:30:50.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz's isolation from friends and family increased.
Dialogue: 0,1:30:50.90,1:30:53.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He had basically stopped working on anything else,
Dialogue: 0,1:30:53.55,1:30:57.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the case was, in fact, taking over sort of his whole life.
Dialogue: 0,1:30:57.01,1:31:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of Aaron's lawyers apparently told the prosecutors that he was emotionally vulnerable,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:02.70,1:31:06.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that that was something they really needed to keep in mind so that they knew that.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:06.89,1:31:09.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was weighing on him very heavily.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:10.06,1:31:15.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He did not like having his actions and his movements restricted in any way,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:15.58,1:31:20.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the threat of jail, which they pounded him with a lot,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:21.92,1:31:23.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was terrifying to him.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:23.59,1:31:27.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Completely exhausted his financial resources,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:27.18,1:31:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it cost us a lot of money also, and he raised a substantial amount of money,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:32.32,1:31:36.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it was, you know, it was in the millions of dollars.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:36.20,1:31:38.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Interviewer] The legal defence?\N- Yes.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:38.34,1:31:40.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-Was in millions?\N- Yes.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:41.30,1:31:43.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think he didn't want to be a burden to people.
Dialogue: 0,1:31:43.94,1:31:47.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that was a factor like, "I have my normal life,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:47.52,1:31:49.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then I have this shitty thing I have to deal with,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:49.49,1:31:53.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I try to keep the two of them as separate as possible,
Dialogue: 0,1:31:53.25,1:31:57.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they were just beginning to blur together and everything was becoming shitty."
Dialogue: 0,1:31:59.22,1:32:02.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Swartz faced a tough choice that was only getting tougher:
Dialogue: 0,1:32:02.63,1:32:04.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you admit guilt and move on with your life,
Dialogue: 0,1:32:04.76,1:32:07.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or do you fight a broken system?
Dialogue: 0,1:32:07.46,1:32:09.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With his legal case, the answer was simple:
Dialogue: 0,1:32:09.65,1:32:13.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He rejects a final plea deal and a trial date is set.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:13.03,1:32:16.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron was resolute that he didn't want to knuckle under and accept something
Dialogue: 0,1:32:16.98,1:32:21.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he didn't believe was fair, but I also think he was scared.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:32.90,1:32:34.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think they would have convicted Aaron.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:34.38,1:32:38.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think we would have walked him out of that courthouse, and I would have given him a big hug,
Dialogue: 0,1:32:38.54,1:32:44.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we would have walked across that little river in Boston, and gone and had a couple of beers.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:45.75,1:32:49.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I really thought that we were right. I thought that we were going to win the case.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:49.73,1:32:51.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought that we could win the case.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:51.50,1:32:54.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't talk about it very much, but you could see
Dialogue: 0,1:32:54.16,1:32:56.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the enormous pain that he was going through.
Dialogue: 0,1:32:56.50,1:33:01.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[song]
Dialogue: 0,1:33:01.42,1:33:05.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No time in his childhood did Aaron have any severe mood swings
Dialogue: 0,1:33:05.13,1:33:10.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or depressive episodes or anything that I would describe as "severe depression"
Dialogue: 0,1:33:10.83,1:33:13.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's possible, you know, he was depressed. People get depressed.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:13.88,1:33:18.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[music]
Dialogue: 0,1:33:18.64,1:33:23.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Very early in our relationship, three or four weeks in or something,
Dialogue: 0,1:33:23.81,1:33:25.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember him saying to me
Dialogue: 0,1:33:27.38,1:33:30.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I was a lot stronger than he was.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:30.65,1:33:33.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, he was brittle in a lot of ways.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:33.48,1:33:36.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Things were a lot harder for him than for a lot of people.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:36.87,1:33:39.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was part of his brilliance, too.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:40.97,1:33:47.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think he probably had something like clinical depression in his early twenties.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:47.33,1:33:49.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think he did when I was with him.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:49.26,1:33:55.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wasn't a "joyful" person, but that's different from being depressed.
Dialogue: 0,1:33:56.50,1:34:01.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was just under such enormous pressure for two years straight.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:01.24,1:34:03.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He just didn't want to do it anymore.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:03.96,1:34:07.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was just--I just think it was too much.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:07.36,1:34:14.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[song]
Dialogue: 0,1:34:14.40,1:34:17.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I got a phone call late at night.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:17.42,1:34:23.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could tell something was wrong, and then I called, and I realized what had happened.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:24.00,1:34:29.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A co-founder of the social news and entertainment website "Reddit" has been found dead.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:29.06,1:34:31.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Police say twenty-six-year-old Aaron Swartz
Dialogue: 0,1:34:31.52,1:34:33.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,killed himself yesterday in his Brooklyn apartment.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:37.26,1:34:46.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just thought, we've lost one of the most creative minds of our generation.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:46.51,1:34:49.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was like, the whole world fell apart at that moment.
Dialogue: 0,1:34:56.87,1:34:59.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was one of the hardest nights of my life.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:00.01,1:35:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just kept screaming, "I can't hear you! What did you say? I can't hear you!"
Dialogue: 0,1:35:07.69,1:35:09.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't. That's it.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:09.24,1:35:11.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Interviewer] Okay.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:19.74,1:35:22.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah, none of it made any sense,
Dialogue: 0,1:35:22.54,1:35:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and really still doesn't.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:25.01,1:35:27.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was so frustrated, angry.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:33.08,1:35:36.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[exhales]
Dialogue: 0,1:35:38.22,1:35:41.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, I tried to explain it to my kids.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:43.32,1:35:47.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My three-year-old told me that the doctors would fix him.
Dialogue: 0,1:35:52.23,1:35:56.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've known lots of people that have died, but I've never lost anybody like this,
Dialogue: 0,1:35:56.82,1:36:04.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because everybody feels, and I do too, there is so much we could have--more to do like...
Dialogue: 0,1:36:04.93,1:36:11.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just didn't know he was there. I didn't know this was what he was suffering and...
Dialogue: 0,1:36:11.32,1:36:12.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was part of me.
Dialogue: 0,1:36:16.58,1:36:20.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I just wanted it to not be real, and then...
Dialogue: 0,1:36:24.30,1:36:29.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then I just looked at his Wikipedia page and I saw the end date:
Dialogue: 0,1:36:33.11,1:36:35.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"to 2013".
Dialogue: 0,1:36:44.92,1:37:10.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[quote on screen]
Dialogue: 0,1:37:14.99,1:37:19.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My first thought was: what if nobody even notices?
Dialogue: 0,1:37:19.46,1:37:23.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, because it wasn't clear to me how salient he was.
Dialogue: 0,1:37:23.98,1:37:30.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had never seen anything quite like the outpouring I saw.
Dialogue: 0,1:37:30.04,1:37:31.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Net just lit up.
Dialogue: 0,1:37:31.94,1:37:37.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone was trying to explain it in their own way, but I've never seen
Dialogue: 0,1:37:37.57,1:37:39.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people grieve on Twitter before.
Dialogue: 0,1:37:39.88,1:37:42.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People were visibly grieving online.
Dialogue: 0,1:37:45.74,1:37:49.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was the internet's own boy,
Dialogue: 0,1:37:49.31,1:37:52.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the old world killed him.
Dialogue: 0,1:37:55.16,1:37:59.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are standing in the middle of a time when great injustice is not touched.
Dialogue: 0,1:38:01.73,1:38:06.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Architects of the financial meltdown have dinner with the president, regularly.
Dialogue: 0,1:38:06.12,1:38:14.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the middle of that time, the idea that this is what the government had to prosecute,
Dialogue: 0,1:38:14.15,1:38:17.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It just seems absurd, if it weren't tragic.
Dialogue: 0,1:38:17.43,1:38:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The question is: Can we do something, given what's happened,
Dialogue: 0,1:38:22.98,1:38:26.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make the world a better place,
Dialogue: 0,1:38:26.20,1:38:28.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how can we further that legacy?
Dialogue: 0,1:38:28.05,1:38:30.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the only question one could ask.
Dialogue: 0,1:38:32.98,1:38:37.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All over the world there are starting to be hack-a-thons, gatherings,
Dialogue: 0,1:38:37.32,1:38:43.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron Swartz has, in some sense, brought the best out of us, in trying to say:
Dialogue: 0,1:38:43.45,1:38:45.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How do we fix this?
Dialogue: 0,1:38:47.10,1:38:52.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was, in my humble opinion, one of the true extraordinary revolutionaries
Dialogue: 0,1:38:52.29,1:38:55.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this country has produced.
Dialogue: 0,1:38:55.36,1:38:58.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't know whether Aaron was defeated or victorious,
Dialogue: 0,1:38:58.53,1:39:05.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we are certainly shaped by the hand of the things that he wrestled with.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:06.04,1:39:12.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When we turn armed agents of the law on citizens trying to increase access to knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,1:39:12.29,1:39:17.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've broken the rule of law--we've desecrated the temple of justice.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:17.04,1:39:20.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron Swartz was not a criminal.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:20.06,1:39:21.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[applause]
Dialogue: 0,1:39:21.84,1:39:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability,
Dialogue: 0,1:39:25.92,1:39:30.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it comes through continuous struggle.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:30.05,1:39:32.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron really could do magic,
Dialogue: 0,1:39:32.67,1:39:36.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm dedicated to making sure that his magic doesn't end with his death.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:36.31,1:39:40.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He believed that he could change the world, and he was right.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:40.77,1:39:44.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Out of the last week, and out of today, phoenixes are already rising.
Dialogue: 0,1:39:44.51,1:39:45.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[applause]
Dialogue: 0,1:39:47.04,1:39:51.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since Swartz's death, Representative Zoe Lofgren and Senator Ron Wyden
Dialogue: 0,1:39:51.64,1:39:55.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have introduced legislation that would reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act--
Dialogue: 0,1:39:55.32,1:40:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the outdated law that formed the majority of the charges against Swartz.
Dialogue: 0,1:40:00.40,1:40:03.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called "Aaron's Law".
Dialogue: 0,1:40:03.21,1:40:07.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aaron believed that you literally ought to be asking yourself all of the time:
Dialogue: 0,1:40:07.40,1:40:10.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What is the most important thing I could be working on in the world right now?
Dialogue: 0,1:40:10.80,1:40:12.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you're not working on that, why aren't you?
Dialogue: 0,1:40:12.68,1:40:15.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Protesters] This is what democracy looks like!
Dialogue: 0,1:40:15.49,1:40:18.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[crowd chants] We are the people too!
Dialogue: 0,1:40:18.26,1:40:20.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Internet freedom's under attack, what do we do?
Dialogue: 0,1:40:20.96,1:40:22.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stand up, fight back!
Dialogue: 0,1:40:22.33,1:40:25.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Internet freedom's under attack, what do we do?
Dialogue: 0,1:40:25.25,1:40:29.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Carmen Ortiz has got to go!
Dialogue: 0,1:40:33.70,1:40:37.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wish we could change the past, but we cannot.
Dialogue: 0,1:40:37.15,1:40:39.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we can change the future and we must.
Dialogue: 0,1:40:39.70,1:40:43.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We must do so for Aaron, we must do so for ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,1:40:43.39,1:40:48.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We must do so to make our world a better place, a more humane place,
Dialogue: 0,1:40:48.80,1:40:53.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a place where justice works, and access to knowledge becomes a human right. [applause]
Dialogue: 0,1:40:53.78,1:41:02.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there was a kid, back in February, from Baltimore, fourteen years old,
Dialogue: 0,1:41:02.04,1:41:08.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who had access to JSTOR, and he'd been spelunking through JSTOR after reading something,
Dialogue: 0,1:41:08.53,1:41:14.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he figured out a way to do early tests for pancreatic cancer,
Dialogue: 0,1:41:14.87,1:41:19.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and pancreatic cancer kills the shit out of you because we detect it way too late
Dialogue: 0,1:41:19.17,1:41:23.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the time we detect it, it's already too late to do anything about it,
Dialogue: 0,1:41:23.01,1:41:28.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he sent emails off to the entire oncology department at Johns Hopkins,
Dialogue: 0,1:41:28.27,1:41:31.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know hundreds of them, and every--\N- [Interviewer] Did you say fourteen years old?
Dialogue: 0,1:41:31.20,1:41:35.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- Fourteen-year-old kid, yeah, and most of them ignored it but one of them sent him an email back,
Dialogue: 0,1:41:35.22,1:41:38.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and said this is not an entirely stupid idea, why don't you come on over?
Dialogue: 0,1:41:38.04,1:41:43.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This kid worked evenings and weekends with this researcher, and in February I heard him on the news
Dialogue: 0,1:41:43.31,1:41:47.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just a couple of weeks after Aaron died, when Aaron was in the news a lot..
Dialogue: 0,1:41:51.08,1:41:53.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sorry...
Dialogue: 0,1:41:53.54,1:41:59.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he said the reason he was on the news was 'cause they'd done it. They were shipping
Dialogue: 0,1:41:59.70,1:42:03.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an early test for pancreatic cancer that was going to save lives,
Dialogue: 0,1:42:03.42,1:42:10.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he said, "This is why what Aaron did was so important."
Dialogue: 0,1:42:10.26,1:42:15.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because you never know, right? This truth of the universe is not only something
Dialogue: 0,1:42:15.48,1:42:19.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that policymakers use to figure out, you know, what the speed limit should be.
Dialogue: 0,1:42:19.68,1:42:26.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's where the thing that's gonna keep your kid from dying of pancreatic cancer comes from,
Dialogue: 0,1:42:26.24,1:42:32.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and without access, the person who might come up with the thing that's got your number on it,
Dialogue: 0,1:42:32.25,1:42:34.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may never find that answer.
Dialogue: 0,1:42:35.58,1:42:45.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He slept so well, he didn't fall out of the tree, not even when he dreamed he was back on the spacecraft.
Dialogue: 0,1:42:48.40,1:42:51.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Aaron's dad] Very good, Aaron. Very good. Yay, Aaron!
Dialogue: 0,1:42:51.40,1:42:53.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, now it's song time.
Dialogue: 0,1:42:57.16,1:43:12.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,♪ ♪ ♪
Dialogue: 0,1:43:25.74,1:43:32.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[credits]
Dialogue: 0,1:44:43.62,1:44:44.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[the end]