A British computer science student is facing a potential jail sentence following his arrest and extradition request by US authorities relating to a TV download site.

Arrested last month, 23-year-old Richard O’Dwyer operated the TV Shack website that offered links to other sites offering downloads of popular television shows and movies.

O’Dwyer is represented by barrister Ben Cooper who was involved in the case of autistic hacker Gary McKinnon, still fighting extradition to the US.

The case is especially contraversial since precedent has emerged int he UK following a trial of a similar link-based web site, that merely linking to copyrighted material doesn’t constitute an offence. However a US-UK extradition agreement allows the US to seek extradition of an individual under US law.

"To me he’s just a geeky boy, who sits in his room messing on his computer," said O’Dwyer’s mother Julia told the BBC. The student sold advertising on the website linking to copyrighted material. O’Dwyer’s legal team drew attention to the fact that the case didn’t appear to have a direct US link. If extradited and convincted in the US, the charges carry a maximum jail sentence of five years imprisonment.

Image: Central News.