TV Shack founder loses round in extradition battle
Summary: A UK student has lost a round in a battle to avoid extradition to the US to face copyright infringement charges.Richard O'Dwyer lost his extradition case at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, according to the BBC.
A UK student has lost a round in a battle to avoid extradition to the US to face copyright infringement charges.
Richard O'Dwyer lost his extradition case at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, according to the BBC. He now has 14 days to appeal the decision, which could go to the High Court.
O'Dwyer faces up to five years in jail if extradited to the US on copyright infringement charges, according to the BBC. O'Dwyer, a student at Sheffield Hallam University, set up the TV Shack website, which prosecutors claim offered links to copyrighted content in contravention of US law.
The extradition treaty between the UK and the US, originally agreed as a counter-terrorism measure, has been criticised by campaigners and civil rights organisations as being biased in favour of the US.
Extradition cases such as that of Nasa hacker Gary McKinnon, which has aroused debate over the UK/US extradition treaty, are ongoing.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Talkback
It *is* severely biased in favour of the US and it ought to be restricted to counter-terrorism in accordance with the intentions of the original agreement which, in any case has, apparently, not been ratified by the US government.
Richard O'Dwyer, and others caught up in this web, ought to be tried in the UK according to UK law, and Parliament must amend or scrap the relevant enabling legislation and take back power over, and protection of, its own citizens. Time to stop being the US's poodle and show them a polite two fingers. It's a slippery slope - handing over our sovereignty, not only to the EU where we do at least have a voice, but also to the US where we do not .
Unintended consequences, creep or just plain bad legislation; or just bad faith.
This article appears to to explain the situation quite clearly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jun/17/student-file-sharing-tvshack-extradition