US government sought extradition of Richard O’Dwyer, a 23-year-old from Chesterfield in northern England, for setting up his website TVShack, which allegedly lured online viewers to watch film and TV content owned mainly by US producers for free.
At a recent ruling, a judge announced in London that this young man could be handed over to the US for undergoing trial, and sentence could include imprisonment if found guilty.
The US and UK are parties to an extradition treaty and the matter came to light when the US authorities closed down the portal for violating copyrights.
However, O’Dwyer’s lawyer Ben Cooper said he would appeal the decision, during the hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court, and that he could be tried at home rather being extradited.
Some sources say the student was working on an "interesting project," with the court saying having some links on to content was not copyright infringement, unless one hosts it.
O’Dwyer told the BBC that he was forced to set up advertising because of the massive server fees.
He added when there is a website with over 300,000 visitors a month, there is a need for infrastructure and the person in charge of it has to pool in money.
