LONDON, United Kingdom – UK Home Secretary Theresa May has approved the extradition of an English student accused of infringing copyright laws to the US.
The US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency claims that Richard O’Dwyer, 23, earned “over $230,000 in advertising revenue” through a website he set up which hosts links to pirated copyrighted films and TV programs.
TVShack does not host any of the content itself, Reuters reports, but US authorities says it breaches copyright law and obtained a warrant to seize the domain name in June 2010.
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US and UK police seized equipment at O’Dwyer’s South Yorkshire home in November of that year. In January 2012 he was told by a magistrate’s court that he could be extradited to the US despite the UK having brought no criminal charges against him, according to the BBC.
A UK government spokesman said Tuesday that the home secretary “had carefully considered all relevant matters before signing the order.”
O’Dwyer’s mother Julia, said her son “had been sold down the river” by the UK, according to the Press Association. She claimed last week that a petition protesting O’Dwyer’s extradition had secured almost 20,000 signatures, and said she and her son would submit an appeal once they were notified of the Home Office’s decision.
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