As this blog
reported in July 2012, a student in the United Kingdom was facing
extradition to the U.S. on charges of illegal copyright piracy.
The
student, Richard O’Dwyer, a 24-year-old
college student from Great Britain, was facing possible extradition on criminal
charges of copyright infringement. The possible punishment: 10 years in
a U.S. federal penitentiary.
In 2008, O’Dwyer first set up a website, TVShack.net, which
allowed users to search for and link to other sites, including ones that the
federal authorities argue showed pirated movies and television shows.
The US government shut down TVShack.net in summer
2010. But Mr. O’Dwyer was apparently
unbowed. TVShack.net had been growing in popularity, and it
made about $230,000 from advertising over the course of two years, federal
prosecutors claim.
“America? They have nothing to do with me,” Mr. O’Dwyer had
declared, according to his mother. He then subsequently reopened his site
as TVShack.cc, which he reckoned was beyond the reach of the United
States. He was wrong.
A few months later came a knock on the door from the British
police. A judge ruled that Mr. O’Dwyer would not be prosecuted in Britain.
Instead, the US Department of Justice would seek to extradite him.
Prosecutors also claimed that O'Dwyer was well aware that the
material was copyrighted. They cited an announcement on TVShack that urged
users to be patient with download times because they were “saving quite a lot
of money (especially when putting several visits to the theater or
seasons together).”
Subsequently, the BBC has reported the student has struck a
deal to avoid extradition. A High Court judge was informed that Mr O'Dwyer
was expected to travel to the U.S. in the next 14 days to complete a plea agreement, pay an undisclosed sum in compensation and give undertakings not to
infringe any copyright laws again. If he does, he may face immediate extradition.
