Please sign this petition to save a real injustice

[ColinM50]

Lifted from another forum

Richard O'Dwyer is a 24 year old British student at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. He is facing extradition to the USA and up to ten years in prison, for creating a website – TVShack.net – which linked (similar to a search-engine) to places to watch TV and movies online.

O'Dwyer is not a US citizen, he's lived in the UK all his life, his site was not hosted there, and most of his users were not from the US. America is trying to prosecute a UK citizen for an alleged crime which took place on UK soil.

The internet as a whole must not tolerate censorship in response to mere allegations of copyright infringement. As citizens we must stand up for our rights online.

When operating his site, Richard O'Dwyer always did his best to play by the rules: on the few occasions he received requests to remove content from copyright holders, he complied. His site hosted links, not copyrighted content, and these were submitted by users.

Copyright is an important institution, serving a beneficial moral and economic purpose. But that does not mean that copyright can or should be unlimited. It does not mean that we should abandon time-honoured moral and legal principles to allow endless encroachments on our civil liberties in the interests of the moguls of Hollywood.

Richard O'Dwyer is the human face of the battle between the content industry and the interests of the general public. Earlier this year, in the fight against the anti-copyright bills SOPA and PIPA, the public won its first big victory. This could be our second.

This is why I am petitioning the UK's Home Secretary Theresa May to stop the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer. I hope you will join me.

- Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder

http://www.change.org/petitions/ukhomeoffice-stop-...

[StottyZr]

Signed.

[julian64]

See other thread

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

Edited by julian64 on Tuesday 26th June 15:33

[Major Fallout]

Signed

[Jessicus]

So the fact that when requested to take the original site down he complied, acknowledging infringement, yet immediately set up another site with a similar domain name and anti-police slogans on it is OK is it?

Plus the fact that he made over £140000 in advertising the distribution of copyrighted works is fine?

No injustice. No "I didn't know".

Hope the smug git gets 5 years in a federal prison. Then he might realise that people who produce original works have the right to choose who gets access to them.

[martin84]

Jessicus said:

Hope the smug git gets 5 years in a federal prison. Then he might realise that people who produce original works have the right to choose who gets access to them.

What next? People sent to Tehran because they had a bacon sandwich in the UK?

I think the point is he's not American, the so called crime didn't happen in America and it's none of their business.

[AndrewW-G]

Jessicus said:

So the fact that when requested to take the original site down he complied, acknowledging infringement, yet immediately set up another site with a similar domain name and anti-police slogans on it is OK is it?

Plus the fact that he made over £140000 in advertising the distribution of copyrighted works is fine?

No injustice. No "I didn't know".

Hope the smug git gets 5 years in a federal prison. Then he might realise that people who produce original works have the right to choose who gets access to them.

It's not often that we agree on something, but as Martin has already said, the "crime" happened in the UK, therefore any trial should be in the UK . . . . . . . . next time you wander across the road, you better be careful, that your not arrested and extradited to the US for Jay walking

[Caulkhead]

martin84 said:

Jessicus said:

Hope the smug git gets 5 years in a federal prison. Then he might realise that people who produce original works have the right to choose who gets access to them.

What next? People sent to Tehran because they had a bacon sandwich in the UK?

I think the point is he's not American, the so called crime didn't happen in America and it's none of their business.

The crime did happen in the US, many of the website's users were American and many of the copyright holders were American.

[martin84]

Caulkhead said:

The crime did happen in the US, many of the website's users were American and many of the copyright holders were American.

Then go after the American website users, because that's all the American legal system has any right to do.

I don't see what the nationality of the copyright holder has to do with anything.

ETA: @ AndrewW-G, hell shall freeze.

Edited by martin84 on Wednesday 27th June 00:10

[Killer2005]

Not going to comment on the legal side of it, but I'd have far more respect for him if he went to court in a suit

[martin84]

Well thankfully even America can't get people extradited purely for not wearing what they like, so we're safe on that one.

This is just another example of the Americans thinking they run the entire world.

[supertouring]

Copyright Math - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZadCj8O1-0

[Tiggsy]

Killer2005 said:

Not going to comment on the legal side of it, but I'd have far more respect for him if he went to court in a suit

This. Is he playing the "high functioning retard card" like the hacker bloke or the "super geek" card. EItherway, ditch the hoody and tshirt and get down M&S!

[singlecoil]

Caulkhead said:

martin84 said:

Jessicus said:

Hope the smug git gets 5 years in a federal prison. Then he might realise that people who produce original works have the right to choose who gets access to them.

What next? People sent to Tehran because they had a bacon sandwich in the UK?

I think the point is he's not American, the so called crime didn't happen in America and it's none of their business.

The crime did happen in the US, many of the website's users were American and many of the copyright holders were American.

I'm inclined to agree. The internet is international.

[roachcoach]

singlecoil said:

Caulkhead said:

martin84 said:

Jessicus said:

Hope the smug git gets 5 years in a federal prison. Then he might realise that people who produce original works have the right to choose who gets access to them.

What next? People sent to Tehran because they had a bacon sandwich in the UK?

I think the point is he's not American, the so called crime didn't happen in America and it's none of their business.

The crime did happen in the US, many of the website's users were American and many of the copyright holders were American.

I'm inclined to agree. The internet is international.

So if have a pop at the Thai king, I can expect extradition for my hideous crimes?


And keep in mind the UK is so willing to take it right in the ass from big media, we're having to cough up £20 to fight false accusations under current proposals.

[singlecoil]

roachcoach said:

So if have a pop at the Thai king, I can expect extradition for my hideous crimes?


And keep in mind the UK is so willing to take it right in the ass from big media, we're having to cough up £20 to fight false accusations under current proposals.

If you were, in effect, stealing money from His Majesty then your deportation would seem reasonable to me. As for the rest of your comment, I don't know what you are referring to.

[Jasandjules]

This is an affront to what little justice we have left in the UK.

[0000]

Caulkhead said:

The crime did happen in the US, many of the website's users were American and many of the copyright holders were American.

That's not a crime the person they're deporting committed though, is it?

[roachcoach]

singlecoil said:

roachcoach said:

So if have a pop at the Thai king, I can expect extradition for my hideous crimes?


And keep in mind the UK is so willing to take it right in the ass from big media, we're having to cough up £20 to fight false accusations under current proposals.

If you were, in effect, stealing money from His Majesty then your deportation would seem reasonable to me. As for the rest of your comment, I don't know what you are referring to.

I'm sure you're well aware of the infringement != theft debate so I'll not rekindle it here but take a different tact:

Perhaps we should deport the admins of nuts.co.uk, they're showing some thoroughly illegal st to the good, moral people of Iran. Thereby making them guilty of probably at LEAST a half a dozen laws over there. Causing, according to the countries government, direct harm to their citizens and offending the moral values of the country and punishable under their various obscenity laws. I think with death.

Would you be ok with that? Because that is EXACTLY the same as this.


I was referring to the way our country bends over for big media like a $2 we. Other thread is here: Pay to prove innocence

[singlecoil]

roachcoach said:

I'm sure you're well aware of the infringement != theft debate so I'll not rekindle it here but take a different tact:

Actually, no, I'm not. By all means argue against what I have said if you disagree with it, but introducing a large amount of material that I have no knowledge of, or interest in, isn't furthering the debate.

Did you mean 'tack'