In March, UK Home Secretary Theresa May decided that Richard O’Dwyer, the UK-based ex-administrator of the video linking website TVShack, should be extradited to the US to face copyright infringement charges.
O’Dwyer, 23, has never visited the United States nor did he operate his server there. Nevertheless, he still faces several years in a US prison, largely due to the UK Government’s failure to introduce changes to the country’s lopsided extradition law.
But despite the setback, all is not yet lost. Richard O’Dwyer’s appeal will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 30 and 31 July.
“We’ve got three months to bring everything together for that appeal,” Richard’s mother Julia told the BBC.
“Our main argument is that what Richard did does not amount to a criminal offense in the UK. In order to be extradited the alleged offense must be a crime in both countries. This is what we have to argue.”
