Ever since the student and his mother, Julia, have been fighting an extradition battle to the U.S., where authorities wanted him put on trial for criminal copyright infringement offenses.

In March this year UK Home Secretary Theresa May approved the extradition request from US authorities. But seemingly against all the odds, last month it was announced that a deal had been struck to avoid Richard being tried in the United States.

The so-called deferred judgment agreement requires that Richard does not breach copyright in the future and orders him to pay compensation to rights holders. That amount was revealed today as £20,000, which represents the profits generated by TVShack between December 2007 and November 2010.

The agreement itself was hammered out between Richard’s legal team and U.S. authorities last week, but would not be completed until the student had appeared in court in the United States in a hearing scheduled for this week.

A few hours ago came the news that everyone had been waiting for, delivered by Richard’s mother who has worked tirelessly to fight the extradition.

“In New York now,” Julia told TorrentFreak. “Have just been to the court for sign off of deferred prosecution agreement…..so no extradition! Woo !”

Speaking outside the court with The Guardian, Richard said that the procedure had been very swift.

“The judge read out the terms of the deferred prosecution and I agreed to them and that was that,” he said.

While Richard said that he was very pleased that the U.S. government had decided to drop the case against him, he protested his innocence and criticized the UK government for doing little to help him.

“I still believe that I never committed any crime,” he said. “It really is a pity that the UK government didn’t try and resolve this without us having to come all the way over.”

That sentiment was echoed by Julia, who is thankful that the ordeal is now over but is disappointed by the inaction of the UK government.

“It’s just a pity that the British authorities couldn’t have allowed us to sort this out in the UK in a similar manner,” she said.

Of course, while the matter is now effectively over, there has still been a human cost.

“It’s been quite destructive to life really,” she said. “It messes up your finances, it messes up your relationships and causes stress.”

Offering a “a big thank you” to everyone who supported him throughout his ordeal, Richard said he was hoping to get back to normality soon.

“I’m just looking forward to getting back to university really, and seeing all my friends,” he said, but not before “a little celebration tonight.”

Richard and Julia will fly back to the UK today and will no doubt be looking forward to a peaceful Christmas – together, as a family.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The UK student has since fought a looming extradition to the US. In March, Home Secretary Theresa May officially approved the extradition request from US authorities, but today the news broke that O’Dwyer will stay a free man.

The former TVShack administrator signed a deferred judgment agreement with the U.S. authorities, the BBC reports this morning. As a result, O’Dwyer’s extradition is off the table. He will not be prosecuted in the U.S. but has agreed to pay a small sum compensation to the rightsholders.

A high Court Judge was informed that Richard’s mother Julia O’Dwyer will have to travel to the U.S. to complete the deal.

It is unclear why the U.S. decided to accept an agreement, but there is little doubt that the public protests organized by O’Dwyer’s mother and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales played an important role.

Jimmy Wales’ petition alone was signed by more than a quarter million people and was covered widely in the mainstream media.

The MPAA, who are believed to be the prime instigators of the case, were not happy with these campaigns and will probably be disappointed by the deal. A few months ago leaked documents revealed that the movie industry group saw Richard O’Dwyer as a purposeful copyright infringer.

“O’Dwyer was not a mere ‘middleman.’ He profited heavily from this activity. To call him a ‘middleman’ suggests a lack of involvement in the illegal activity, which is simply not the case,” MPAA wrote.

“Being 24, posing for newspaper photo shoots in a cartoon sweatshirt, and having your mother and Jimmy Wales speak for you, does not mean you are incapable for breaking the law,” they added.

UK Pirate Party leader Loz Kaye on his turn welcomes the deal.

“This decision vindicates the Pirate Party’s view that the extradition request was disproportionate and unnecessary all along. It does not remove the underlying problem though. The US can not be allowed to be the copyright cops of the world. I hope that Richard and Julia O’Dwyer will be able to begin to rebuild their lives now,” he says.

Interestingly enough, Richard O’Dwyer is not the only administrator of a TV-linking site to negotiate a deferred judgment agreement.

TorrentFreak has learned that Brian McCarthy is working on a similar deal in part due to his medical condition. The owner of Texas-based sports streaming site ChannelSurfing.net was arrested in March 2011 after he had his domain name seized.

For Richard and his mother Julia today’s news marks the end of an uncertain and hectic period. They are being advised not to comment on the specifics of the deal just yet, but promised TorrentFreak that there will be plenty of news later.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Earlier this year UK Home Secretary Theresa May officially approved an extradition request from US authorities and ever since Richard and his mother Julia have battled against it. Their campaign has received high-profile support from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who characterized the case as a clash between civil liberties and the interests of the copyright industries.

Right now Richard is awaiting his appeal to the High Court against the decision of a judge in a lower court to allow his extradition to go ahead. That appeal is scheduled for December 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Speaking with TorrentFreak, Julia O’Dwyer says the appeal will take place on a number of issues but mainly against the lower court judge’s decision.

“In order to proceed with an extradition the alleged conduct must be a crime punishable with more than 12 months in prison in both countries. Despite the Judge saying at the Oct/Nov hearings last year that we had a good strong legal argument supporting this (an opinion which was agreed by the prosecution Barrister), when considering his decision he strangely changed his mind and decided the other way,” Julia explains.

Since it was very similar in function, on many occasions Richard’s site TVShack has been compared to the now-defunct site TV-Links. The admins of TV-Links were also subjected to legal action but were cleared after a judge ruled that Section 17 of the European Commerce Directive 2000 afforded TV-Links a defense when it linked to other web sites. This ruling will form part of Richard’s appeal.

“We will be strengthening these arguments at appeal and as you might expect have sought expert IP opinion on the matter,” Julie adds.

Last week, UK Home Secretary Theresa May decided that alleged hacker Gary McKinnon would not be extradited to the US. She also announced that the government will make some changes to the existing extradition treaty, including the so-called Forum Amendment, which many viewed as good news for Richard’s case, but that’s not necessarily the case.

“This means that where an accused has committed all or a significant amount of the alleged conduct in the UK, then the courts will be able to decide whether they should be tried in the UK,” Julia explains.

“This is a major breakthrough and is what the campaigners for extradition reform have been fighting for for years. This would apply in Richard’s case but as the law has not yet been changed and I don’t know when it will, this is not likely to benefit Richard.”

While Julia notes that the UK government does technically have the power to apply the changes to Richard’s case, the McKinnon decision may mean that they choose not to.

“[The UK government] has just upset the US by keeping Gary Mckinnon here and they are already trying to sabotage any law changes planned by sending over a US Judge to give a lecture to the UK Parliament later this month,” she reveals.

Furthermore, while not a single US citizen has ever been extradited to the UK for a crime committed from the US, aside from the McKinnon decision Julia says that nearly all extraditions to the US of UK citizens (including those who have never set foot on US soil) have eventually gone ahead.

Faced with this bleak outlook, Julia informs TorrentFreak that she is “almost certain” that Richard will be extradited to the US. To this end she is now being forced to prepare for this worst-case scenario.

Fortunately, several people have already offered to finance or work for free on Richard’s case in the US but there are additional costs still to be met.

“There still remains the worry of financial costs in the US. There will be personal financial costs associated with travel to the US, accommodation and the cost of securing an address for Richard to live at in order to be allowed bail. These costs will have to be covered by me somehow,” Julia explains.

“What concerns me are the unknown additional costs which we could be faced with such as a large bail bond or an even more costly financial penalty running into hundreds of thousands of dollars if Richard were to be found guilty,” she adds.

To prepare for this eventuality, a supporter has set up a fighting fund for Richard on GoFundMe with an initial target of £25,000.

“This is a large amount to be raised and I know times are hard for many of us so with that in mind please donate only if you can afford to do so. Your online and public support has been invaluable and has helped get us through this dreadful situation,” Julia concludes.

The petition set up by Jimmy Wales attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures – the hope is that just a few percent of those people will donate one or two pounds, euros, or dollars each.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The ongoing extradition battle of former TVShack admin Richard O’Dwyer has made big headlines recently, particularly due to the support he’s receiving from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. What hasn’t received any attention is how O’Dwyer came to be identified and have evidence collected against him by U.S. authorities in the first instance.

Perhaps unsurprisingly considering the developments in the SurfTheChannel case, two people O’Dwyer appears to have trusted were working with ICE Homeland Security Investigations in the United States prior to the British student’s arrest.

The revelations appear in U.S. court documents which reference the activities of two individuals named “CC-1″ and “CC-2″. CC-1 worked as a moderator on TVShack while CC-2 worked on technical aspects of the site.

CC-1 told Special Agent Marcello Di Laura of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that he communicated with O’Dwyer on email and MSN via the address rjodwyer@hotmail.com, an address also linked to O’Dwyer’s Facebook page. CC-1, who received his TVShack login as far back as December 2007, gave HSI a copy of at least one email showing O’Dwyer’s Hotmail address, but he was to provide much more information.

CC-1 said that O’Dwyer lived and attended school in the UK and used the alias “Duffman” on TVShack. He also shared a picture given to him by O’Dwyer which showed the TVShack admin’s Mini Cooper. HSI inquiries with UK police confirmed that O’Dwyer owned such a car.

CC-2, who worked on the technical side of TVShack, was also very helpful to U.S. authorities. He too confirmed that O’Dwyer used the Hotmail account detailed above but also used a second Gmail account. CC-2 shared emails from that account with HSI which allowed them to cross-reference another website domain to O’Dwyer. This domain led to a second Gmail account and Google subsequently provided HSI with information including IP addresses cross-referenced to the first Gmail account.

According to the documents, O’Dwyer was aware that having a Gmail account might lead to his details being handed over to the authorities by Google. In September 2010 he wrote the following to CC-2:

hi, i’m looking to change the site email address from gmail as i think govt. can access that right? can you setup like info@tvshack.cc? also make it so i can reply without my ip going with the mail i reply to? atm i dont reply to any emails on the gmail account due to that.

But in addition to working with and getting paid by O’Dwyer, CC-2 was already working with HSI.

O’Dwyer allegedly owed CC-2 money for work he’d carried out on TVShack but had experienced some kind of problem with the bank. O’Dwyer told CC-2 he’d have to use PayPal to make the transfer – HSI were informed and Special Agent Marcello Di Laura told CC-2 to go ahead and accept the money. Subsequent HSI inquiries with PayPal revealed connections between several accounts allegedly operated by O’Dwyer.

Even though they are listed as O’Dwyer’s co-conspirators, court documents reveal that CC-1 and CC-2 worked with ICE Homeland Security Investigations with the aim of entering into “non-prosecution agreements” with the U.S. government. Whether they will walk away from this free men remains to be seen, but there is no indication thus far that either man has been charged with anything.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The MPAA successfully lobbied the Department of Justice to demand the extradition of the site’s former operator, UK student Richard O’Dwyer. However, in recent months public opinion turned against the authorities, a point now being noted by the mainstream media.

A new MPAA leak (embedded below) shows that this is worrying movie industry bosses. In a “communication plan” the MPAA explains why these talking points are needed and how the group plans to counter the opposition.

“The overall media coverage has been and will continue to be challenging,” the MPAA writes.

They mention the petition of Wikipedia founder jimmy Wales, the Demand Progress campaign, and note that a recent survey showed that 95% of the public does not support the extradition. According to the MPAA, public opinion is skewed because people are being led to believe that TVShack was operating perfectly legal in the UK.

“To counter these assertions, the MPAA and its allies need a coordinated effort to focus more on the criminal activity involved in the operation of TVShack and other similar linking sites,” the MPAA notes.

Interestingly, the movie industry group appears to be having a hard time finding “allies”.

“Ideally, this would be done through third parties – but finding third parties – especially in the United Kingdom – has been very difficult so far, so the MPAA must be prepared to respond to media requests on the issue and set the record straight to counter the misinformation campaign by our opponents.”

As the leaked “talking points” memo revealed yesterday, the MPAA prepared a case background to be handed out to journalists. In addition, the group drafted responses to the “misinformation” that’s being spread by Jimmy Wales and others.

The MPAA further notes that staffers Mike Robinson and Mark Miller are ready to speak about the case in public. However, they also want to recruit “allies and third parties, both in the US and abroad” to help them get the message across.

“We are also working on an oped as well as blogs by third-party surrogates,” they later add.

While the MPAA never admitted to getting surrogates to report for them this is not totally unexpected. We previously spotted a pro-SOPA op-ed by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff that used phrases that were previously uttered by MPAA people.

The main message these surrogates will be asked to deliver is that Richard O’Dwyer is a criminal. The MPAA continues to point out that an operator of a similar site was recently found guilty in the UK, and will feed this information to journalists.

“We will seek to make sure reporters know about the parallels – and the proof that this kind of copyright theft is illegal in the U.K.,” MPAA notes.

Of course, they don’t mention that the U.K. case they refer to wasn’t about copyright infringement. Neither do they explain why O’Dwyer wasn’t charged with any crimes in the U.K.

To hear the other side of the story TorrentFreak contacted Richard O’Dwyer’s mother Julia, who was baffled by the MPAA’s strategy. According to her, it’s the MPAA who are spreading misinformation.

“It’s rather worrying that the MPAA is behaving in this unnecessarily vindictive way, trying to portray Richard as someone he is not in order to further their own interests,” Julia O’Dwyer says.

“Richard has fully cooperated with the Police at all times and has never told a lie. Lying is something he just won’t do. In contrast the MPAA peddles misinformation about the details of the alleged conduct.”

Among other things she notes that TVShack fully complied with takedown requests, that the site never hosted any copyrighted content and that MPAA member Warner Bros. even asked if their content could be featured on TVShack.

With both sides determined to be heard, the case will continue to make headlines in the coming weeks. The controversial extradition is currently awaiting an appeal to the High Court later this year.

MPAA’s communication strategy is embedded below:

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The UK student has since fought a looming extradition to the US, but thus far without success. In March, Home Secretary Theresa May officially approved the extradition request from US authorities.

In June the case was once again brought to the attention of the mainstream press when Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales launched a petition to stop the extradition. According to Wales, Richard O’Dwyer is a victim of the entertainment industry’s attempt to censor and control the Internet.

The MPAA were not amused with the campaign and behind the scenes began to brief movie industry insiders on how to respond. In a leaked memo obtained by TorrentFreak we see how the group lists “basic talking points” and background on the case for “reporter briefing.”

The memo starts by framing TV-Shack as a pirate website through which O’Dwyer made a healthy profit.

“Richard O’Dwyer created TVShack.net, offering thousands of stolen movies and other pirated content to viewers in violation of both U.S. and U.K. law. In fact, O’Dwyer actively advertised the amount of money users would save by illegally streaming content via TVShack rather than by acquiring it legitimately. At the same time, he profited handsomely from advertizing on the site.”

The claim of O’Dwyer supporters that Internet freedom is at stake is nonsense according to the MPAA.

“This case isn’t about Internet freedom. It’s about a man profiting from theft. However, we do welcome a larger discussion about how best to protect intellectual property online while ensuring an Internet that works for everyone.”

Taking it a step further, the MPAA claims that the movie industry is one of the main beneficiaries of “freedom of speech and expression,” which copyright law helps to protect.

“Copyright law is a tool to protect the work of creators and makers, not censorship. The motion picture industry wouldn’t exist without freedom of speech and expression, which have been among our ‘time-honored’ core values for over a hundred years.”

The memo then discusses some background on the case, with a fictitious Q&A with a reporter. The first question asks for a response to the Jimmy Wales petition, and the answer is clear.

“We think it’s presumptuous of Mr. Wales to claim to speak for the ‘general public.’ That’s because the ‘general public’ includes the hundreds of thousands of creators and makers who create and make the compelling entertainment and content that virtually all of us enjoy on a daily basis. Their hard work deserves to be protected.”

“We don’t believe in unlimited copyright, as Mr. Wales suggests. We do believe, deeply, that our values don’t change just because technology improves. And that people’s values don’t change whether we are online or off.”

The memo then goes on to describe how the TV-Shack website worked and what O’Dwyer’s role was. The MPAA sees O’Dwyer as more than just a middleman, mentions how he continued after ICE seized the domain name, and points out that the operator of a similar website was recently convicted in the UK.

“O’Dwyer was not a mere ‘middleman.’ He knowingly set up a site with the purpose of acting as a clearinghouse for infringing content – he advertised his site as a place to find movies that were still in theatres and in-season tv shows. He profited heavily from this activity. To call him a ‘middleman’ suggests a lack of involvement in the illegal activity, which is simply not the case.”

Finally, the MPAA writes that the TV-Shack admin is not just “a regular college student who likes playing with computers.” Despite wearing a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, he is fully responsible for his actions.

“Being 24, posing for newspaper photo shoots in a cartoon sweatshirt, and having your mother and Jimmy Wales speak for you, does not mean you are incapable for breaking the law.”

While the memo doesn’t include any shocking revelations it’s intriguing to see how carefully the MPAA briefs its friends. The full memo with some extra details is embedded below.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Wales’ petition to stop the extradition is nearing a quarter million signers.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The UK student has since fought a looming extradition to the US, but thus far without success. In March, Home Secretary Theresa May officially approved the extradition request from US authorities.

The controversial extradition based on alleged copyright infringements is now awaiting an appeal to the High Court later this year. However, if it’s up to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales it won’t get that far.

Today, Wales launched a petition on Change.org asking the UK’s Home Secretary to stop the extradition. Wales, who earlier met with Richard O’Dwyer, believes the student has done little wrong.

“When operating his site, Richard O’Dwyer always did his best to play by the rules: on the few occasions he received requests to remove content from copyright holders, he complied. His site hosted links, not copyrighted content, and these were submitted by users,” Wales writes.

Wikipedia’s founder argues that the case is an example of the clash between civil liberties and the interest of the copyright industries.

“Copyright is an important institution, serving a beneficial moral and economic purpose. But that does not mean that copyright can or should be unlimited. It does not mean that we should abandon time-honoured moral and legal principles to allow endless encroachments on our civil liberties in the interests of the moguls of Hollywood.”

Earlier this year Wikipedia was one of the first major web companies to join the fight against SOPA and PIPA, and Wales sees his petition as an extension of this fight.

“Richard O’Dwyer is the human face of the battle between the content industry and the interests of the general public. Earlier this year, in the fight against the anti-copyright bills SOPA and PIPA, the public won its first big victory. This could be our second,” Wales notes.

In addition to the petition, Wales has published an op-ed in The Guardian, the newspaper which is also the first to interview Richard O’Dwyer.

TorrentFreak contacted Richard’s mother Julia O’Dwyer who is delighted with the support from the Internet icon. She hopes that Wales’ voice will be heard by the politicians who have a say in the matter, so the extradition can be prevented.

“To have this support for Richard from Jimmy Wales, such a renowned, influential and relevant person is fantastic. I understand Jimmy Wales advises our own government on Internet matters, so they really ought to sit up and listen to what he is saying and put a halt to this extradition,” Julia told TorrentFreak.

“Jimmy’s support can only benefit Richard and should bring the matter to the attention of some people who along with Jimmy might be able to make a difference,” she added.

For those who want to help making this difference, Jimmy Wales’ Change petition can be signed here.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Following his detention in the UK’s largest prison, the site owner fought a looming extradition to the US, but without success.

After a UK judge gave the green light to extradite the student two months ago, Home Secretary Theresa May officially approved the request from US authorities today.

Julia O’Dwyer, Richard’s mother, is severely disappointed with the decision and says that her son has been “sold” to the US. The extradition may disrupt his life for years.

“Today, yet another British citizen is betrayed by the British Government,” she said.

“Richard’s life – his studies, work opportunities, financial security – is being disrupted, for who knows how long, because the UK Government has not introduced the much-needed changes to the extradition law.”

The extradition is controversial because under certain circumstances merely linking to copyright material isn’t an offense in the UK. In 2010, linking website TV-Links was deemed to be a ‘mere conduit’ of information and its admins were acquitted.

In the US recent court rulings are of a totally different kind. There, Richard O’Dwyer faces the same fate as several other operators of linking sites that were recently on trial.

In January, Ninjavideo founder Hana Beshara was sentenced to 22 months in prison followed by 2 years of probation, 500 hours of community service and ordered to repay nearly $210,000. Fellow admin Matthew Smith received 14 months in prison, two years supervised release, and was ordered to pay back just over $172,000.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The case was eventually adjourned, with accusations from Richard’s lawyer Ben Cooper that US authorities were unfairly trying to gain the upper hand through unreasonable delays. Nevertheless, all parties were back in court today to hear the judge’s ruling.

“There are said to be direct consequences of criminal activity by Richard O’Dwyer in the USA albeit by him never leaving the north of England,” District Judge Quentin Purdy said in his ruling. “Such a state of affairs does not demand a trial here if the competent UK authorities decline to act and does, in my judgment, permit one in the USA.”

“I reject all challenges advanced to this request. No bars or other challenge being raised or found, I send the case to the Secretary of State,” he concluded.

Richard’s most vocal supporter, his mother Julia, voiced her despair and continued with her criticism of the UK’s extradition treaty with the US.

“If [the US authorities] want to prosecute something they will. There’s no safeguards here for British citizens,” she said.

The Judge did not have the “technical brains to know about the whole thing,” she noted, adding: “That guy just lives and breathes extradition.”

Ben Cooper described Richard as an extradition and copyright law “guinea pig”, adding that he would launch an appeal.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Today, TorrentFreak has received news from Richard’s mother Julia O’Dwyer containing an urgent appeal to all UK residents who have the power to help stop Richard’s extradition to the U.S.

A votable motion has been scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee to follow a full parliamentary debate on the UK/US extradition treaty in the Main Chamber of the House of Commons on Monday 5th December at 3pm. That is NEXT MONDAY.

The motion is:

That this House calls upon the Government to reform the UK’s extradition arrangements as a matter of urgency to strengthen the protection of British citizens: by introducing a Bill in Parliament to enact the safeguards recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its Fifteenth Report of 2010-12, and by pursuing such amendments to the UK-US Extradition Treaty 2003 and the EU Council Framework Decision 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant as are necessary in order to give effect to such recommendations.

Those supporting Richard believe this a vote they simply must win – another chance like this is unlikely to appear for another 5 years.

“We need as many as possible to write to their own MPs asking them to attend, support and vote on this motion,” Julia told TorrentFreak.

UK residents who would like to help Richard, who incidentally has never set foot on US soil nor operated a US-based server, can find their MPs via this site.

All that is required is a simple email to them as outlined above. Julia asks that people include their home address in any correspondence with their MP.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.