Watch this: ‘Free the Network’ documentary

Motherboard has released its feature documentary, Free the Network, which takes a look at the work being done by some young activists to supplant the corporate-controlled internet with a new, uncensorable, user-controlled network. The 30-minute piece follows hacker Isaac Wilder and his Free Network Foundation from providing internet access to the Occupy activists in Zuccotti Park, to their aspirations for user-owned fiber backbones; and includes commentary from journalist Melissa Gira Grant and author and media critic Douglas Rushkoff. We found the film really works as a snapshot of the movement, conveying its triumphs and setbacks, and educating viewers about the physical infrastructure underlying the internet — control of which Wilder believes is integral to a broader, global democratic movement:

“The question is no longer about the means of production, but the means of reproduction. To me, global revolution is when the 99 percent takes control of the means of reproduction of information.”