TVShack student could be headed to US for trial

For those of you yet unawares of the currently unfolding TVShack trial, here is a quick roundup: Richard O'Dwyer, a 23 year old British student at Sheffield Hallam University, founded TVShack, a website that provides links to illegal copies of movies and tv shows. The site itself doesn't host any material, instead pointing to other websites that do - a bit like a curated search engine.

US authorities have accused him of criminal copyright infringement and are now attempting to take O'Dwyer to America for trial.

According to O'Dwyer's mother Julia, her son was arrested at his student accommodation in November last year and subsequently questioned by police and officers from the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Department.

New charges were laid against O'Dwyer on 23 May, he subsequently answered bail but not before spending a night in Wandsworth prison whilst his family paid the £3000 required.

The trials' move to the US could drastically change the situation for O'Dwyer, who could end up waiting years in jail before his case is heard. O'Dwyer's legal teams are currently fighting the extradition, pointing to the fact that TVShack was not hosted on American servers.

TVShack.net currently has a note from the US Immigration and Customs Department which states it has been seized. It also explains that, "it is unlawful to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material".

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