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British Student Faces Extradition To US Over Copyright

An anonymous reader writes "A 23-year-old British computer student faces possible extradition to the U.S. for linking to copyrighted content on his website. The student, Richard O'Dwyer, was accused of copyright infringement after setting up the website TV Shack, which had links to thousands of films and tv shows, but did not directly host them."

21 of 340 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Jurisdiction by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The US doesn't give two shits about jurisdiction, they care about sticking it to the kid.

    --
    "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
  2. Let me get this right by MonsterTrimble · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So this guy is being extradited because he has a website which links to copyrighted content only? When did the rules change, because somebody should be talking to Google & Microsoft....

    --
    I call it 'The Aristocrats'
    1. Re:Let me get this right by Bogtha · · Score: 5, Informative

      When did the rules change

      On the 17th of August, 2000, when 2600 was barred from linking to DeCSS under the terms of the DMCA.

      Given the peculiar characteristics of computer programs for circumventing encryption and other access control measures, the DMCA as applied to posting and linking here does not contravene the First Amendment.

      (Emphasis mine.)

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
  3. YouTube, Google, Facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I got access to all copyrighted content via youtube, google and facebook, I wonder why thoses company(CEO) are not in jail, if this "crime" can send you in jail for 5 years.

  4. Re:Jurisdiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Do they have any jurisdiction over this? It wasn't even hosted in the US.

    Well, since both countries are signatories to the Berne Convention ... technically, by treaty the US is legally entitled to ask for the extradition.

    Of course, if you were living in a country which said that linking didn't actually constitute copyright infringement, then the response would be "go away". If your country rules that linking is the same as infringement ... well, then you get extradited. So, depending on precedent in the UK, that's what will likely happen.

    I think this pretty much demonstrates how copyright has become the big bogeyman that circumvents any sanity in law any more. It's become somewhat out of control, and something people are treating as the most important thing going.

  5. Re:Pointless by milkmage · · Score: 5, Informative

    READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE.
    ICE is the twunt... yes that ICE.

    The website was seized by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. O'Dywer was arrested on May 23, brought to Wandsworth prison and then released on a £3,000 bail paid by his aunt.

    I assume the US wants him extradited so he can face prosecution HERE.

  6. How many links is the limit for infringement? by Rijnzael · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I like using rlslog.net to conveniently find torrents. They host no copyrighted content whatsoever, only link to sites which link to torrents which in a sense link to a swarm of people who have parts of the file of interest.

    I imagine that, just following random links on the internet from nearly any given site, I could eventually get to the site I mentioned above. How many links is enough degrees of separation? Surely if liability is introduced simply by linking to a website, you are liable for anything sites you link to also link to. I wonder how many government sites link to Google as their site search provider? Google can get you anywhere, so surely the government would in those cases be liable for linking to Google which links to torrent sites. And that's why this idea is completely absurd.

    And how the hell is what this kid did worthy of extradition, or even a felony in the US? Our copyright policy is so ridiculous.

    1. Re:How many links is the limit for infringement? by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Informative

      More specifically, Tommy Chong was jailed for selling bongs to Pennsylvania cops who repeatedly tried to purchase them even though Chong Glass refused each time because it is illegal in Pennsylvania. After placing a large order under a false name for pickup (where it was legal), the cops refused to pick up the material and had them ship it to get payment.

      All of this circus was done for political reasons by Mary Beth Buchanan with a wink and a nod from John Ashcroft.

  7. Re:Jurisdiction by Nick+Ives · · Score: 5, Informative

    Back when Tony Blair was in power he signed an extradition treaty with the US which means that if a DA files charges against someone, they can be extradited from the UK. Our Parliament ratified the treaty without inserting a reciprocal clause in the legislation making it dependant on your congress honouring the treaty.

    Obviously your congress decided that having US citizens extradited just because a prosecutor in the UK fancied it them was mental, so they didn't ratify that clause. That leaves us with the current imbalance where your criminal justice system can essentially pull anyone out of the UK for any reason.

    --
    Nick
  8. Re:Jurisdiction by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Getting authorities to act sanely entails that they understand a *tiny* bit about how these systems work. They don't. By the admission of many legislators they are getting all their information from lobbyists... which means almost all their information has bias problems.

    We've come a long way from the "creme rising to the top" and such in government. It's purely face-men listening totally to corporate interests. And anyone with true unbiased knowledge are simply "the other" now and their input is completely thrown away.

    He could get a judge that isn't on the take and actually cares about the facts and the best outcome is that it becomes a VERY EXPENSIVE fiasco... what is one more very expensive fiasco, eh?

  9. Re:Land of the free - paradox? by Grishnakh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ever read "1984"? Remember how the war department was the "Ministry of Peace", the propaganda department was the "Ministry of Truth", etc.? The USA's claim "land of the free" is the same. It's just propaganda, and it never was true. At least back in the old days, it was only the slaves and Indians who weren't free, but these days it's everyone who isn't super-rich and politically connected.

  10. Re:Jurisdiction by Score+Whore · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is no "three strikes" law at the federal level in the US. There are multiple "three strikes" state level laws. But there are no state level copyright laws. So your post is kind of bs.

  11. Re:Jurisdiction by rs79 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The US controls every domain name on the planet. Don't kid yourselves.

    For a "siezed" website, it seems to be pretty up: http://tvshack.bz/movies/M (beware of popups)

    I had no idea this site existed. Hello Streisand effect!

    --
    Need Mercedes parts ?
  12. Re:Jurisdiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I keep trying to explain this, especially in relation to Julian Assange.

    You don't get a free pass to commit crimes against a nation's people or corporations or government just because you're not a citizen and not in that country when you do it.

    So you think the editors of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten should be extradited to an Arab country so that they can be beheaded for posting cartoons of Muhammad?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy

  13. Re:Pointless by zill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Soviet prisoner #1: So how long is your sentence?
    Soviet prisoner #2: 10 years.
    Soviet prisoner #1: What did you do?
    Soviet prisoner #2: Nothing.
    Soviet prisoner #1: You liar! "Nothing" gets you 20 years under the PATRIOT ACT.

  14. Re:Pointless by paulo.casanova · · Score: 5, Informative

    C'mon, the US never really cared about jurisdiction in the first place... Dmitry Sklyarov anyone?

  15. Re:Jurisdiction by Dahamma · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Crimes" against a nation's people? For *linking* to copyrighted content!?

    Since (according to the Berne convention) copyrights are automatic, that means pretty much every website on the Internet is copyrighted. Which means every hyperlink to a page that you don't own is potential copyright infringement. I think it would be safe to say that under this definition, almost every website on the planet is now guilty of a crime.

  16. OMFG, what BS by lexsird · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a blaring indictment of how corporations run things. This copyright crap is just about corporate strings controlling our government. Where is the rage?

    I can remember back in the day when the Internet first started how when it was first used for making money how angry the users were against it. It was suppose to be a landscape of pure thought, ideas to be shared for the edification of us all. Bzzzt. That didn't work out. Now its been raped by corporations, if some kid puts up a website that they think they can squeeze a dime out of they burn him. What is sickening is how our pathetic lapdog piece of shit politicians hand over the keys of power to them. We then have a massive industry of enforcement and punishment. We have so many fucking people in jail now its fucking insane.

    Lets dissect all these fucking laws of ours that put people in jail to protect corporate interests. Next we need to consider that our retarded crooked cunt of a Supreme Court has decided in their fucked in the head reasoning that corporations are now "people" and have rights. Holy fucking shit people! How far does a cock have to jam up our asses before we realize how raped we are? How come they aren't paying taxes like a normal person then? Oh, that is right, they buy politicians to give us a tax code that stacks taller than a person.

    The one big lesson that we have collectively forgotten like a bunch of retards is this: When it happens to the least of us, it happens to all of us. When we let these fuckers in charge get away with fucking ONE OF US, then ALL of our liberties are in jeopardy. If you don't consider ANY violation of ANYONE'S liberties a violation of your OWN liberty, then you just fuck off and let it happen. They come for you eventually too, and there is nobody left to stand and fight them with you. Besides you don't deserve anyone helping you because you were a cowardly cunt who let it happen to others.

    I hope the British people fucking riot over this, but they will not. They are a bunch of lemming pussies too. Who am I to talk? We are proving to be the biggest bunch of retarded pussies in history. I shit you all not, if we don't get a grasp of our government and rip it away from corporations, we will be viewed by future historians as infinitely worse than the fucktards in the era of Germany that let the Nazis rise to power.

    Why get so excited over some punk kid getting treated like a high crimes criminal? Sweet Jesus, people, this could be YOU. This could be ME! I don't have the means to fight this kind of shit? Do you? How far will they keep taking control over us? Oh fuck it, what can I expect of the Facebook generation? Stop the fucking planet, I want off.

    --
    Take the Red Pill.
  17. Re:Pointless by MysteriousPreacher · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The UK signed up to an Interestingly one-sided extradition treaty which is best summed up as follows:

    US: We want on of your citizens for x crimes
    UK: Do you have the kind of evidence we would require in order to press charges?
    US: No
    UK: He'll be on the 2:30 to O'Hare

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    -- Using the preview button since 2005
  18. Re:Jurisdiction by lennier · · Score: 5, Funny

    The US controls domains with other country TLDs?

    They use Aircraft Carrier Deployment Protocol for that.

    --
    You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC