Richard O'Dwyer & The New Internet War

[Stylo]

So, I've been following a recent story about a young man named Richard O'Dwyer who is presently being threatened with extradition to the US. Sheffield (the place where he attends Uni) is like a second home to me (30 mins down the motorway and 15-20 mins on the train from where I live currently) so this is quite a "close to home" incident for me, which is slightly scary.

FULL ARTICLE: 'Richard O'Dwyer and The New Inernet War'

Let's generate some discussion:

O'Dwyer created a website, called tvshack.net, that acted as a search engine for people to find out where they could watch and in some cases download popular TV shows, typically programmes not yet available outside the US. Some of the links led to legal sources, others to unauthorised sites. In that respect his site was no different from hundreds of thousands of services where the general public gathers to talk.

O'Dwyer respected the rules – deleting content when he received properly formatted take-down notifications. Given the state of US internet law, it is extremely difficult to see how he can be convicted of copyright violation. But that is what he is now threatened with, a conviction that could carry a sentence of 10 years in a US prison, after the British home secretary, Theresa May, signed an extradition order in March.

This has prompted Jimmy Wales - Founder of Wikipedia (who also wrote the posted article I might add) to start a petition which has over 87,000 signatures right now, with a target of 100,000 by tomorrow, Jun 29th in the UK.

Given the thin case against him, it is an outrage that he is being extradited to the US to face felony charges. No US citizen has ever been brought to the UK for alleged criminal activity on US soil. There is a disparity here that ought to raise concerns at the highest levels of government in both the US and UK.

From the beginning of the internet, we have seen a struggle between the interests of the "content industry" and the general public. Due to heavy lobbying and much money lavished on politicians, until very recently the content industry has won every battle. Internet users handed the industry its first major defeat earlier this year with the epic Sopa-Pipa protests over planned copyright laws that culminated in a widespread internet blackout and 10 million people contacting the US Congress to voice their opposition.

Your thoughts and feelings? If this battle is won, is it another step towards justice or will Hollywood inevitably crush us all under an iron fist, flailing with collateral damage?

If you agree with Jimmy and would like to sign the petition aimed at Theresa May to save Richard O'Dwyer from extradition: GO HERE

 

[Vegeta897]

Signed.