Judge Rules British Student Can Be Extradited

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• Hope I don't get extradited to a US prison for saying this, but I am ashamed of Britain's poodle status. In the 1980s, US courts refused to extradite suspected Irish terrorists on the grounds that this was a political offence, and allowed NORAID to raise money for terrorist activities. Now, because of this so-called 'war on terror', the British government and judges gladly betray their own people without any conscience on alleged offences that have nothing to do with terrorism. Even if the victim has never been to the USA in his life.

  A government's first duty is to its own citizens. At least the Russians don't extradite their own people.

• I am sorry but if you "copy" anything which has a warning than I am afraid you pay the price, every DVD whether here or in the US clearly states that one is persecuted for infringement,otherwise it is : theft? So, he has to pay, besides he made loads of money from his copy theft, and he should be penalized.

• "the owners with .com or .net addresses could face extradition, even if the activity was legal in the UK. It’s reasoning is that the addresses are routed through American internet infrastructure owner Verisign, based in Virginia."

  So I hope the Verisign are being prosecuted for the same crime then.

  But somehow I doubt it, because it seems to me that the Americans have got a chip on their shoulder and it is everyone else that is to blame.

  It is the cry "Korban" of hypocrites that get my goat.

• This is nonsense. Email and website addresses have nothing to do with it. Just because you have a .com address does not mean that you have to respond to inquiries from all over the world. You choose the countries in which you wish to be active and to do business. And if you affirmatively choose to make copyrighted works available in a country where that would be illegal, it is your decision and you must live with the consequences. Any other rule would be frivolous.

• mary,you have no clue.the issue is : extradition of a British citizen to the us,
  living in the uk. us doesn't even recognise the international court in den Haag .
  it doesn't count for Americans!!! would you believe, a American did something,
  which is against the law in the uk,they would extradite that person to Briton???
  they would just laugh !!!!!!
  Briton , put your foot down,don't be pushed around be the USA!!!!

• A bit tricky to comment as I don't know all the facts. I know what Verisign do and that confuses me. Why are they involved at all? Anyway - my take on it.....

  1) This student didn't copy anything. Yes illegal copying is theft but this isn't what he did.

  2) Seen YouTube? I can link to that no problem. Or NetFlix?

  3) Not totally sure about my facts with this one, but with music a PRS license would cover copied material. The important thing is that the owners get paid.

  But as I just said, this student didn't copy anything - just linked to content where it was kept.

  He is being treated like he had links to ChildPorn.com, and even then that would be a UK problem. The US may not like what he has done but in reality it is nothing to do with them.

• What? Russian will extradite 'their own people' when they commit crimes in foreign countries. Happens all the time, even recently here in the UK.

  And it is not, and never has been, considered a duty of the UK or any other government to offer protection to their citizens when they commit crimes abroad.

  With regard to liability, this student's offense is no different than if he had called a hit man in the US and ordered a contract killing. True, he never left the UK, but he intentionally committed a crime in the US. His is not required to make his website accessible to territories in which his activity may be illegal. But he chose to do so. His decision. His consequences.

• So by that logic I can be put in prison in Saudi Arabia for drinking alcohol in the Uk/US....ok then.

• A quick look at the Innocence Project's website is enough to convince anybody that there is a great deal wrong with "justice" in the United States...On those grounds alone the British Government ought to be saying "Sod off" to the generally corrupt US authorities

• I agree absolutely with the above comments. It is a sorry state of affairs when both the British Government and the PC/American petrified judiciary have no scruples handing over their citizens to what is generally recognised as a flawed foreign legal system. Until 50 years ago British officials who put the interests of a foreign power before those of their own nation were tried and hanged as traitors we should return to that sensible practise starting with Blair and his cronies.

• It is unbelievable that the British Government would let this go ahead.

  No crime was committed according to UK law by a British citizen living in the UK. We should tell the USA where to go.

  I would expect a Labour Government to do everything it could against British people, but we now have a Conservative led coalition, so I am surprised that not more is being done to protect our people.

  We can always vote them out if they don't stand up for us.

• Climb a tall building and (threaten to jump)! Don't of course.
  That WILL grab the press corp attention.
  Then to the European court.They will uphold your case in your favour then it's 'Freedom'
  The yanks are biased against you. Go and live in Europe.
  No one else would extradite you to the land of 'injustices'
  Fight the good fight mate.

• I just find it terribly sad that the Americans can't see what's in front of them. This student hasn't committed a crime in the UK and nor did he commit a crime IN the US. He's trodden on the toes of the US and so now they want payback. When are they going to grow up? He's a young man with limited life experience, he's not a terrorist or a drug dealer and he's not a criminal. Why can't the US use it's its resources more wisely and stop harrassing the allies? Is it any wonder we have no time for them and our cynical view of them just keeps growing!

• Of course he committed a crime in the US. That point is not denied. Did someone force him to make copyrighted works available in the US? No, he chose to do so. All responsible websites exclude territories in which their activities might be illegal from their reach. He chose not to do so, so that he could make more money. The US, after all, is a much larger market for his infringing activities than is the US.

  With regard to liability, this student's offense is no different than if he had called a hit man in the US and ordered a contract killing. True, he never left the UK, but he intentionally committed a crime in the US. He is not required to make his website accessible to territories in which his activity may be illegal. But he chose to do so. His decision. His consequences.

• You committe a crime you do the time..its thats SIMPLE!!!

• But he didn't. That is the whole point. He upset the self proclaimed world police.

  We don't like what happens in a lot of countries, but we know where our boundaries lie.

• Yes, you've identified the point precisely: 'we know where out boundaries lie.' But this student chose not to respect those boundaries and to make infringing works available on a worldwide basis. No one forced him to that. His choice.

• So we can have a student extradited to America for a crime, not illegal here, but can't send a suspected terrorist to Jordan. The country has gone mad!

  I wonder how many Americans get extradited to UK compared with how many UK citizens get sent the other way?

• Just tell the yanks to piss off. thats all.

• If one breaks the law of copy infringement one will have to pay, and it is illegal in the UK as well. It is theft, and it is advised in any products which are shown in DVD's and also in the UK, so I do not understand the comments at all.

• His crime was placing a link. A single line of code that routes to a new web location.

  This is what google do. He copied nothing. He hosted nothing.

  Alternative Ex. If I type in into the search bar of Google "Al Queda Training guide" they bring up a link that points to this location. Google does not actually contain the information by provides a "LINK"

  This boy is guilty of having lots of links to servers that the US cannot get at in countries that do not extrodite their citizens when they have committed no illegal acts under the law of the land in which they live.

  The US are not the world police. They do not own the internet. The more they do this the more people will choose no US based companies for internet services.

• Unfortunately with Verisign based in the US, they *do* own the internet (or at least the top level domains).

  Until Verisign hand over the domain administration contracts to an international based group, .com, .net, .org, .biz and other generic domains will be in the firing line of the anti-piracy lobbyists that seem to be running the show at the moment.

  Sad, but true. The US have this one sewn up and they know it.

• This is a very good point: people should be more outraged over the failure of the UK police. We are bound by the same World Trade Organization Treaty (TRIPS agreement) as the US, which this student has violated. Does anyone think it is just accidental that the UK film industry is dying while Hollywood thrives? One country protects its creative industries; one does not.

• We should stand up to the americans, it just shows how much Cameron is a puppet in thier hands. I think all students and those concerned about our liberties in this country should write and let him know their feelings. This case if it is against british law should be tried in a british court.