Australian Extradited For Breaking US Law At Home

An anonymous reader sends us a link to a report in The Age about an Australian resident, who had never set foot in the US and broke US intellectual-property laws in Australia, being extradited to the US to face trial. Hew Raymond Griffiths pleaded guilty in Virginia to overseeing all aspects of the operation of the group Drink Or Die, which cracked copy-protected software and media products and distributed them for free. He faces up to 10 years in a US jail and half a million dollars in fines.

Comments

Re:Why is this news?

[Detritus]

If I was the kingpin of a criminal enterprise that operated in Australia, among other places, I wouldn't be surprised if Australia requested my extradition. The point being that I would have knowingly committed criminal acts on Australian soil, even though I was physically somewhere else. If I give orders to the Melbourne branch office of Trolls 'R Us, to break John Doe's legs, does it matter whether I'm in Australia or not?