Richard O’Dwyer, accused of copyright infringement, will avoid a US trial.
Richard O’Dwyer, the British university student on the verge of being extradited to the US to face copyright infringement charges, has struck a deal with his prosecutors. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement O’Dwyer will not face trial, nor will he have a criminal record.
O’Dwyer is the creator of TVShack.net, a guide to torrent sites that hosted television content. In its heyday TVShack.net earned about £15,000 per month in ad revenue, but its creator will have to pay a modest fine, as part of the deferred prosecution agreement, to settle the case. O’Dwyer does still have to go to the US, but only to sign the documentation which, among other stipulations, makes him promise not to infringe copyright again.
O’Dwyer, still a student, has yet to formally comment on this resolution to his dilemma at time of writing. Previously he has alleged that his prosecution was a test case, saying “I think they’re trying to use my website as a sort of guinea pig to try to scare everyone else making linking websites.” If that truly is so, it would seem the US authorities are cooling on the idea; a quick trip to New York and a fine isn’t that frightening.
Source: Guardian
