Richard O'Dwyer

For the Newfoundland politician, see Richard Horton O'Dwyer.

Richard O'Dwyer
O'Dwyer c. 2011
Born (1988-05-05) 5 May 1988 (age 36)
Sheffield, England, UK
EducationSheffield Hallam University
Known for
  • TVShack website
  • U.S. extradition request
Criminal charge(s)Conspiracy to commit copyright infringement; Criminal infringement of a copyright
Criminal statusAll charges dropped
Websitewww.richard.do

Richard O'Dwyer (born 5 May 1988) is a British entrepreneur & computer programmer who created the TVShack.net search engine[1] while a student at Sheffield Hallam University.

In May 2011, the U.S. Justice Department sought to extradite O'Dwyer from the UK in relation to the website. The site did not host any infringing media, but American authorities said it contained indexed links to media hosted on other sites, and defined it as a "linking" website.[1][2]

The Southern District Court in New York charged O'Dwyer with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and criminal infringement of copyright. O'Dwyer's lawyer Ben Cooper opposed extradition, stating that the site acted as a mere conduit, and should be afforded the same protection given to search engines such as Google and Yahoo!. Ben Cooper also argued that any criminal prosecution should be brought in the UK, as TVShack was not hosted on American servers.[citation needed]

On 13 January 2012, UK District Judge Quentin Purdy rejected those arguments and ruled that O'Dwyer could be extradited to the U.S. to face copyright infringement allegations. The extradition order was approved by then UK Home Secretary Theresa May in March, 2012, and O'Dwyer launched an appeal.[citation needed]

On 28 November 2012, it was announced that O'Dwyer had signed a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid extradition. He was ordered to pay a fine of £20,000 and remain in contact with a US correctional officer over the next six months. In return, the United States would drop all charges.[3]

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the judge, called the outcome "very satisfactory", adding, "It would be very nice for everyone if this was resolved happily before Christmas".[4]

O'Dwyer now works as director of a computer software business[5] and racing driver.[6]

  1. ^ a b Somini Sengupta (12 July 2012). "U. S. Pursuing a Middleman in Web Piracy". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Manhattan Federal Court Orders Seizures of Seven Websites for Criminal Copyright Infringement in Connection with Distribution of Pirated Movies Over the Internet" (PDF). Press Release United States Attorney Southern District of New York. U.S. Justice Department. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  3. ^ Adam Gabbatt (6 December 2012). "Richard O'Dwyer: living with the threat of extradition". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  4. ^ [1], Wikipedia founder hails extradition deal with US and calls for law reform, 28 November 2012.
  5. ^ "O'Dwyer Software official website".
  6. ^ "1st Team HARD Driver announced for 2016". Retrieved 11 February 2016.