The High Court was told earlier this week that 24-year-old Richard O’Dwyer signed a ‘deferred prosecution’ agreement that will see him travel to the US to pay a small sum in compensation and give undertakings not to infringe copyright laws again, according to the BBC.
He had been accused of hosting links to pirated films and TV programmes through his TVShack web site.

Over by Christmas

Judge Sir John Thomas said that ‘it would be very nice for everyone if this was resolved happily before Christmas,’ adding that the outcome was ‘very satisfactory’.
However, Loz Kaye, leader of Pirate Party UK -- a political party aiming to legalise non-commercial file-sharing -- said Mr O'Dwyer’s deal showed the US extradition request had been ‘disproportionate and unnecessary’. He added: ‘It does not remove the underlying problem, though. The US cannot be allowed to be the copyright cops of the world.’
According to a report in The Guardian newspaper Mr O’Dwyer’s case could prove to be an example for future extradition matters involving financial claims.

Plea bargain

The agreement is believed to have allowed plea-bargaining in advance of a long-winded extradition process, presenting an opportunity to avoid what could in some cases be years of litigation.
The report adds that the decision by Britain’s home secretary, Theresa May, to block the deportation of alleged computer hacker Gary MacKinnon last month may have pushed US authorities to seek the advance deal rather than suffer another high-profile set back.