After months of uncertainty, last December former TVShack owner Richard O’Dwyer averted his looming extradition from the UK on criminal copyright infringement charges by cutting a deal with the U.S. Government which allowed him to carry on with his life. Freed from extradition worries O’Dwyer swiftly finished his dissertation, and he is now working on the launch of a new video streaming portal called Filmhub.
The epic battle to stop UK student Richard O’Dwyer being extradited to the United States is finally over. His excited mother Julia contacted TorrentFreak from New York with news that all necessary paperwork had been signed and that a brief court appearance had effectively ended legal action against her son. Richard thanks all those who supported him and says he is looking forward to getting his life back on track.
Richard O’Dwyer, the UK-based ex-administrator of the video linking website TVShack, will not be extradited to the US to face copyright infringement charges. After a long and hard battle, spearheaded by his mother and supported by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, O’Dwyer struck a deal with the U.S. government. Instead of being extradited the student has signed a “deferred prosecution” agreement which means that he keeps his freedom in exchange for paying compensation to the copyright holders.
The recent decision not to extradite hacker Gary McKinnon to the United States was considered by some as a sign of hope for the predicament of former TVShack admin Richard O’Dwyer. But while there is still a High Court appeal around the corner, things still don’t look good. Speaking with TorrentFreak, Richard’s mother says her son’s extradition is now “almost certain” which is forcing her to plan for a worst case scenario in which he is sent across the Atlantic with little notice. Can you help?
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