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.
