الرئيسية
LONDON (Reuters) - A London court ruled on Friday a British student
can be extradited to the United States for breaching U.S. copyright law
by running a website that allowed users to access films and TV programs
illegally.
Richard O'Dwyer's website, TV Shack, provided links to other websites
where users could access content but did not host any of the content
itself.
The 23-year-old, who says he started the project to improve his
computer programming skills and help him get a work placement, did not
charge users but sold $230,000 worth of advertising on the site,
according to U.S. authorities.
"I was forced to set up advertising because of the massive server fees," O'Dwyer told BBC radio ahead of the ruling.
"When you've got a website with over 300,000 people a month visiting,
there's a need for infrastructure to support that. There's no other way
to do it, unless you had the money yourself."
The United States has cracked down far harder than Britain on illegal
file-sharing, which has damaged the film, television and music
industries.
O'Dwyer's lawyer Ben Cooper argued that by linking to other websites,
his client had done nothing more than the likes of Google Inc or Yahoo
Inc.
He said the student's activities would not be criminal in Britain, and he should be tried at home if anywhere.
can be extradited to the United States for breaching U.S. copyright law
by running a website that allowed users to access films and TV programs
illegally.
Richard O'Dwyer's website, TV Shack, provided links to other websites
where users could access content but did not host any of the content
itself.
The 23-year-old, who says he started the project to improve his
computer programming skills and help him get a work placement, did not
charge users but sold $230,000 worth of advertising on the site,
according to U.S. authorities.
"I was forced to set up advertising because of the massive server fees," O'Dwyer told BBC radio ahead of the ruling.
"When you've got a website with over 300,000 people a month visiting,
there's a need for infrastructure to support that. There's no other way
to do it, unless you had the money yourself."
The United States has cracked down far harder than Britain on illegal
file-sharing, which has damaged the film, television and music
industries.
O'Dwyer's lawyer Ben Cooper argued that by linking to other websites,
his client had done nothing more than the likes of Google Inc or Yahoo
Inc.
He said the student's activities would not be criminal in Britain, and he should be tried at home if anywhere.