We are pleased to invite you to a film screening of “The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz” on 1 December 2014 at 6:30 pm in the European Parliament.
Aaron Swartz represented the best and the brightest of a generation of young people who have grown up with the Internet. He was a brilliant programmer, writer and political activist who died tragically at a very young age. His legacy is specially relevant as we are considering new EU copyright legislation. Access to academic data, democratic control over information and freedom of speech were at the centre of his struggle. He sought change and was willing to disobey unjust laws to bring that change about. As you shall see in this documentary Aaron was very clear about his positions:
“Information is power but like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world’s entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. There are those struggling to change this. The open access movement has fought valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it.”
“There is no justice in following unjust laws. It’s time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture. We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that’s out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open Access.”
“With enough of us, around the world, we’ll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge — we’ll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us?”
Should you require a badge for the European Parliament, please RSVP to julia.reda-office@europarl.europa.eu stating your full name, identity card/passport number, date of birth and nationality.
To the extent possible under law, the creator has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.