A British student who created a website that helped people to watch films and TV shows for free has reached an agreement to avoid extradition to the US over copyright infringement allegations, the High Court was told today.
Sheffield Hallam University undergraduate Richard O'Dwyer was facing extradition after allegedly earning thousands of pounds through advertising on the TVShack website before it was closed down by the US authorities.
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He could have faced jail if convicted of the allegations, which were brought following a crackdown by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Today a judge at London's High Court was told O'Dwyer has signed a draft agreement in the last two days that involves him travelling to the US and paying compensation, but avoiding a trial and criminal record if found guilty.
Edward Fitzgerald QC, for O'Dwyer, told the court he had agreed to a "deferred prosecution agreement" and intended to honour it.
This meant O'Dwyer's pending application to challenge US moves to extradite him were no longer necessary.
Sir John Thomas, President of the Queen's Bench Division, said: "It is a very satisfactory outcome."
The court heard that O'Dwyer is expected to travel to the US in the next 14 days to complete the agreement, pay a small sum in compensation and give undertakings not to infringe copyright laws again.
His extradition application is expected to return to the High Court in 15 days' time so it can formally be disposed of.
The judge said: "It would be very nice for everyone if this was resolved happily before Christmas."
Home Secretary Theresa May agreed to O'Dwyer's surrender after a court ruled in January that his extradition would be lawful.
O'Dwyer was facing the prospect of being the first British citizen to be extradited for such an alleged copyright offence and his lawyers argued he would effectively become a "guinea pig" for copyright law in the US.
His mother Julia O'Dwyer, from Chesterfield, said she was "disgusted" when she heard of the US attempt to extradite her son and claimed the UK's extradition treaty with the US "needs fixing fast".
The US authorities alleged that O'Dwyer received more than 230,000 US dollars (around £147,000) in advertising revenue since January 2008, until the site was shut down in 2010.
When he was arrested by City of London Police in November 2010, he accepted that he was earning approximately £15,000 per month from online advertisements.
Human rights campaign group Liberty welcomed the proposed settlement of 24-year-old O'Dwyer's case but warned there was still need for reform of extradition laws.
Isabella Sankey, Liberty's director of policy, said: "This will be a huge relief for Richard - but how appalling that he had to wait so long for the US authorities to make this decision.
"Case after case shows that our extradition arrangements must be overhauled to allow people who have never left these shores to be dealt with here at home. We need urgent legislation to prevent their torment."