Legal News

The computer science student Richard O’ Dwyer, 23 who is facing deportation to the US for alleged copyright infringements has got support from Jimmy Wales the founder of Wikipedia who has launched a global campaign to try and stop the extradition of Mr Dwyer.
The student at Sheffield Hallam University has been accused of alleged copyright infringements by running a website that provided links to pirated films and television shows.
Mr Wales said it was an outrageous case and has started an online petition calling on Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to halt his removal.
He said Mr O’Dwyer, was the “human face” of the battle between the interests of the film and television industries and the public.
He added the case itself was so flimsy that it would be outrageous to extradite him to the US to face felony charges for something that he was not even being prosecuted for here.
No US citizen has ever been brought to the UK for alleged criminal activity that took place on the US soil.
Since the emergence of internet there has been a struggle between the interests of the “content industry" and the interests of the general public. The content industry had been winning its every battle till recently because of its heavy lobbying and lavish funding on politicians.
Mr O’Dwyer had revealed how he was trying to carry on with his studies despite the threat of his extradition hanging large over him. He said he thought about it at times during the day, but tried to think about other things that were more important.
He added that he was not going to let the extradition warrant ruin his life as it would fail university by moaning over it sitting all day in the room.
Mrs May approved the extradition of Mr O’Dwyer in March after District Judge Quentin Purdy rejected his claims that he would not get a fair trial in the US.
He could face up to 10 years in a federal prison for operating TVShack for three years until December 2010. In the UK he would have faced a maximum of six months.
His is the latest in a string of controversial extradition cases involving America including that of Gary McKinnon, an Asperger's sufferer who hacked into computer systems at the Pentagon.
Mr Wales said Richard, had struck to him as a clean-cut, geeky kid who was the kind of person one can imagine launching the next big thing on the internet.
The petition has been launched on change.org, a website with 5,000 people already having signed within hours of being posted online since last night.