British student Richard O'Dwyer has signed a deal that will halt his proposed extradition to the United States.
He was originally scheduled to be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement in the region, but has avoided exactly that by paying a fee the BBC describes as "a small sum" in compensation. In doing so, he's signed a "deferred prosecution" agreement.
O'Dwyer has been fighting to stay in the United Kingdom for over a year after he was accused of copyright infringement by creating and profiting from TV Shack, a site providing links to pirated TV shows and movies.
He's now expected to travel to America voluntarily over the course of the next few weeks in order for the deal to be formally ratified.
Following UK Home Secretary Theresa May approving the extradition order in January, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales defended O'Dwyer. He stressed the US was trying to "prosecute a UK citizen for an alleged crime which took place on UK soil".
A petition to halt the extradition was created by Wales, who said: "The internet as a whole must not tolerate censorship in response to mere allegations of copyright infringement. As citizens we must stand up for our rights online."
Should O'Dwyer have been extradited, he faced a maximum of five years in prison. The student is said to have generated around $230,000 from the site.
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Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
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Pennanen What kind of country is ready to give their own citizens to hands of other country!?!Reply
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cats_Paw PennanenWhat kind of country is ready to give their own citizens to hands of other country!?!Reply
Everyone except CUBA?
Welcome to the real world. Dont worry, one day the public will stand and it will be like the king of france Luis XIV, we will cut the head of those who rule :D. (Thou i might be dead by the time that happens).
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kinggraves PennanenWhat kind of country is ready to give their own citizens to hands of other country!?!Reply
Pretty much every single one of them would gratefully bend over for the US. China and Korea might want to negotiate first. Thankfully the most dominating world powers are usually the closest to falling.
Even as a US citizen, I am not happy my tax dollars go to extraditing someone for what is a civil offense when we can't even extradite drug kingpins and child pornographers. -
madjimms Cats_PawEveryone except CUBA?Welcome to the real world. Dont worry, one day the public will stand and it will be like the king of france Luis XIV, we will cut the head of those who rule . (Thou i might be dead by the time that happens).People can bash Cuba all they want (oh noes the Commies! oh noes!) But they have universal healthcare & an average life expectancy higher than many 1st world countries.Reply -
zybch madjimmsPeople can bash Cuba all they want (oh noes the Commies! oh noes!) But they have universal healthcare & an average life expectancy higher than many 1st world countries.Reply
How is it even a civil offense when it wasn't perpetrated in the country where the offense is alleged to have taken place? -
Pinhedd zybchHow is it even a civil offense when it wasn't perpetrated in the country where the offense is alleged to have taken place?Reply
It was a civil offense. If you read the ruling you'll notice that the justice agreed that the dual criminality necessary for extradition was met.
Under the Berne Convention the copyright law of the country in which a work is published applies, which is why they pushed to have him tried in the USA.