Richard O'Dwyer to be Extradited to America accused of infringing copyright laws by advertising on his website

The Home Secretary has authorised the extradition of a student accused of infringing copyright laws by advertising on his website.

Sheffield Hallam University undergraduate Richard O'Dwyer, 23, allegedly earned thousands of pounds through the TVShack site before it was closed down by authorities in the United States.

On Tuesday Theresa May signed an order allowing him to be extradited, two months after a district judge said the allegations justified a trial in the US.

The ruling follows a series of high-profile extradition cases, the latest of which saw retired British businessman Christopher Tappin, 65, of Orpington, Kent, extradited to the US last month to spend 23 hours a day alone in his cell awaiting trial over arms dealing charges.

And Asperger's sufferer Gary McKinnon is still waiting for Mrs May's decision 10 years after the US first asked for him to be extradited over charges he allegedly hacked into military computers in 2002.

O'Dwyer faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the allegations, which were brought following a crackdown by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

His lawyer, Ben Cooper, has argued that the site did not store copyright material itself and merely pointed users to other sites, in the same way that Google and Yahoo operate. Read More