[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAcvdBoWTVc]Student Richard O Dwyer To Be Extradited for Copyright Infringement to us - YouTube[/ame]

 

'Piracy' student Richard O'Dwyer loses extradition case

 

A Sheffield student can be extradited to the US to face copyright infringement allegations, a judge has ruled.

 

Richard O'Dwyer, 23, set up the TVShack website which US authorities say hosts links to pirated copyrighted films and television programmes.

 

The Sheffield Hallam University student lost his case in a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court. If found guilty in a US court he could face up to five years in jail.

 

Mr O'Dwyer's lawyer, Ben Cooper, indicated during the hearing that he would appeal against the ruling. Mr Cooper said the website did not store copyright material itself and merely directed users to other sites, making it similar to Google.

 

He also argued that his client, who would be the first British citizen to be extradited for such an offence, was being used as a "guinea pig" for copyright law in the US.

 

But District Judge Quentin Purdy ruled the extradition could go ahead. Mr O'Dwyer's mother, Julia O'Dwyer, from Chesterfield, has described the moves by US authorities as "beyond belief" and described Britain's extradition treaty with the United States as "rotten".

 

Speaking before the hearing, Mr O'Dwyer said he was "surprised" when police officers from the UK and America seized equipment at his home in South Yorkshire in November 2010. However, no criminal charges followed from the UK authorities.

 

The case was brought by the US Customs and Border Protection agency, which claims that the TVShack.net website earned "over $230,000 in advertising revenue" before US authorities obtained a warrant and seized the domain name.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-16544335

The US, seeking to be a global empire, is always attempting to harmonize laws between the countries within its sphere of influence. This means pressure on other countries' lawmakers/judges/police to cooperate with the American legal system, even when it means giving up their sovereignty.

 

This is part of the reason I greatly admire countries like Liechtenstein, which are militarily weak, yet stick up for themselves and their laws when other bigger countries harass them.

It's a one-way system, America gets to extradite people into America, but it's rare for an US judge to allow an american citizen to be extradited to another country to face trial.

You're right David, is is awfully one-sided, I agree. And if what Richard O'dwyer states is true, that they merely directed users to other sites, then one wonders why the US Customs and Border Agency is pressing this case, except to make an example of one person, in order to scare others away from using or even referring someone to copyrighted material. 5 years in jail max, if he's convicted? If he is guilty of anything, why on earth meter out such harsh punishment?? It does sound like someone just wants a big case win to put a feather in their cap, and do the bidding of a lucrative industry to scare everyone. I'm all for copyright protection, but it's granted on the assumption that it is to foster innovation and creativity, not to provide income for copyright holders for untold decades. And when someone does violate a copyright law, since it's regarding lost revenue, it seems proper to return to the holder of the copyright (which should be in the hands of the originator) some of the estimated lost revenues, not to send someone to jail or prison over it!

 

Amendment VIII.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

And I always like it when the record comapanies come out and say that every illegal download = 1 lost sale when it just isn't true

this stupid country