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Sheffield student faces jail in America over movie clips on website
Richard O'Dwyer
A SHEFFIELD student is facing up to five years in jail if convicted in America for a website which provided links to movie clips.
Richard O’Dwyer, aged 23, who lives in student accommodation on Shoreham Street in the city centre, is facing extradition to the US to face copyright infringement charges.
The Sheffield Hallam University computer science undergraduate is being defended by lawyer Ben Cooper, who is also representing 26-year-old alleged hacker Gary McKinnon in his fight against extradition to America. Richard, who is originally from New Station Road in Chesterfield, has refused to give his consent to be extradited and has vowed to fight in the English courts against the move. A source close to Richard said: “He’s in total disbelief over the charges against him and very anxious about the impact this may have on his studies since he has two years left of his degree. He’s daunted and frightened by the
prospect of being extradited to America let alone the disruption to his career.”
His mother Julia O’Dwyer said the decision to put him on trial in the US was ‘madness’.
“Richard clearly has a talent for web design but was foolish in not understanding the implications of copyright,” she said.
“Yet to try to haul him off to America for trial while he’s midway through his university studies is so utterly disproportionate it defies belief.”
The student was arrested three weeks ago and locked up for a night in Wandsworth Prison - until his aunt was able to stump up £3,000 in bail money.
Yesterday he appeared before the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for a short preliminary hearing.
Lawyer Mr Cooper said he would argue the extradition demands breached Richard’s human rights.
He said: “The server was not based in the US at all. Mr O’Dwyer did not have copyrighted material on his website; he simply provided a link. The essential contention is that the correct forum for this trial is in fact here in Britain, where he was at all times.”
In court Richard wore a red hooded top bearing the name Sheffield Hallam University, and spoke only to confirm his identity.
He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
District Judge Daphne Wickham bailed him to return for a further hearing at the court in London on September 12.
His bail conditions include reporting weekly to a police station in Sheffield, not entering ports or airports, not applying for international travel documents, and not using the internet to access the website ‘TV Shack’ or registering a new domain name.
After the case his mother said: “Let’s hope our Government can bring some common sense to bear to put an end to such unnecessary, yet deeply traumatic, extradition demands.
“We have a perfectly good justice system in the UK - why aren’t we using it in cases such as this?”
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Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
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save.richard
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 12:12 AMSign the petition to stop richards execution... http:www.gopetition.competitionsstop-extradition-fair-uk-trial-for-richard-o-dwyer.html
JohnJay
Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 01:37 AM"...facing up to five years in jail if convicted in America for a website which provided LINKS to movie clips" That's right: Links!! Americans continually show that they've gone completely insane. You no longer need to host any actual US content to be sent to prisonland. Now, if you have links on your site to American TV shows, America will find you, anywhere in the world, put you in irons, and have you shipped to one of their endlessly expanding network of corporate-owned prisons, whose shareholders include prosecutors and judges!! There's only one solution: Everyone link to US TV shows from your Facebook page!!
jgh
Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 12:20 AM"Mr O’Dwyer did not have copyrighted material on his website;" Yes he did, he had *his* content on the server, the stuff linking to other people's content. **EVERYTHING** created in the last 70-odd years is automatically copyright of the author writing it. Everything on the server that Mr O'Dwyer wrote was copyright Mr O'Dwyer. What Mr O'Dwyer chooses to do with *his* copyright material is entirely and utterly entirely up to him.
stevee
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 06:39 PMIf he doesn't go he may end up sleeping with the fishes like that other well known fugitive of the USA
PaulSheffield
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 04:49 PM@4 totally agree with you Google have links by the millions nonsuch stuff but the plaintiff will not darevto take on the mighty Google oh no much rather bully this kid who undoubtedly has zero cash to defend himself. I for one amsick of the USA using whatever means they can to drag our citizens over there and our government just give in every time ....
Martin Milan
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 12:40 PMThis is madness. If all the lad has done is post URLs, then this is a major abuse of our famously weak extradition agreement with the United States - and in and of itself serves as justification for ending it. The URL is merely an address, on the internet, that identifies the location particular piece of content. His actions are, to present an offline analogy for people unfamiliar with the internet, roughly analogous to saying "I was wondering through Donny market and I saw someone selling *Insert film here*". He's not actually infringing copyright himself at all.
dromedary
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 12:25 PMThe Stars bad reporting again. . . . . He did not host copyrighted movie clips on his website and only provided a link. . . . . So, can someone remind me what UK law he has broken?
jimlahey
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 12:12 PMI assume the plaintiff in the case has already filed suits against google, bing et al, what with them having far more links to copyrighted material than this individual could ever hope to accumulate in a lifetime? farcical.
swfc
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 11:16 AMfunny and a thrill at the time , but as the old saying goes if you can't do the time don't do the crime! the interesting thing said is the host is not in the USA so you might as well save all a lot of money and just fine him here in the uk instead of messing about anymore, you naughty naughty boy.
joseramirez
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 10:59 AMYou would have thought that copyright laws and issues would be one of the first subjects covered in a course such as this fellow's doing. So far as "the muppet in the shotgun story" is concerned I rather think he's being a little disingenuous. To say the least. Pity the wart wasn't on his nose!
horseman of the apocalypse
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 10:48 AMUtterly ridiculous, tell the yankees to sod off, fine the fool and make him do some community service. How about the muppet in the shotgun story??? He wants sending down, the law is truly an ASS and keeps proving it!
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