A very good book about a very sad thing.

tbh I had to read this for class, and though it is a nice little history of copyright, the early internet, and Swartz, it wasn't anything I didn't already know. Also, there are no women in this book. At all. And the title "librarian" is thrown around in a way that I find personally upsetting, and also is a good indicator that the author doesn't actually know much about librarianship.

A well-researched, insightful, and human view into copyright law and its various abuses (on multiple sides!) through history, and a fair requiem for Swartz. My full review is here.

This book is mostly about copyright and its relation to Internet open culture in the US, and well-written in general. Only perhaps a third of the book is about Aaron Swartz. Which I think works well, but might throw other people off. The essentials, and more, are there, and it makes a compelling read.

I've been interested in the Aaron Swartz story since I saw the documentary "The Internet's Own Boy." This book takes 4 chapters to review the history of intellectual property and the push and pull between long periods of copyright protection vs. public domain benefits. It then tells Aaron's story with a seemingly balanced view. I liked the documentary a lot but this book filled in some gaps for me. This might interest some of my librarian friends.

Pretty fascinating, and a good backgrounding in both the roots and branches of current struggles over intellectual property and the public good, with a tragic figure at the center.

Good read. I'd recommend watching, "the internets own boy" before reading as it gives a better overall persepective of Aaron's contribution to the world. Book started off slow which is why it didn't get a full 5 stars, but it was a worth while read, and especially engaging in the later half of the book.

If you have ever used the Internet, and liked being able to, this is a book to check out. A lot of folks (including me) don't realize that much of the way the Internet currently works hinges on interpretations of copyright rules. This book provides lots of reasons why copyright is an important issue, how it underpins our history and our future, and why we should all be a little more aware and involved in matters of copyright law.

This book is touted as being centered on Aaron Swartz, and it does spend some time going through his situation (which is fascinating in and of itself), but Peters covers a lot of ground besides Aaron Swartz; the background on where copyright came from, and the tensions between why we need it and why we should abolish it are nicely laid out. There's definitely cases for both sides, and Peters does a good job of laying out the arguments for each. He also recognizes that the current political system is moving to consolidate power for those with money, and close off opportunities for those without via the manipulation of copyright laws; essentially, this is what caused Aaron Swartz to get hauled in by the FBI. This book would make a great addition to anyone's collection, as it makes a very clear case for why we all need to pay a little more attention to what's going on in Washington, and why we should all be more involved with our local, state, and federal representatives if we enjoy the Internet as it currently stands.