James Delahunty
7 Sep 2004 6:46
A ground-breaking ruling against an Australian man accused of pirating software, games and music worth over $50 million should have all pirates in the world scared. Hew Raymond Griffiths who went by the online name BanDiDo, has never been to the United States but will be tried in a U.S. court after the U.S. won the battle to extradite him. First time around, an Australian magistrate denied the extradition request but after an appeal the U.S. won the right to try Griffiths. Senior associate at Auckland's Simpson Grierson, Mark Kelly, said that this decision will go down in history, as it means that people accused of piracy in one country could be brought to justice in another under extradition law.
Griffiths is accused of being the ring leader of an Internet Release Group called DrinkOrDie. The group allegedly worked from a computer network at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, there are no allegations that Griffiths made any money from his activities. Eleven members of DrinkOrDie have already been convicted in the United States. Griffith’s infringements all took place on his home computer in Australia, if the extradition and trial go ahead; he is facing up to 10 years in an American prison and a possible fine of $500,000.
This case is very controversial. Why would being accused of piracy allow the U.S. to try you there? If anything its more evidence that the U.S. think they can control the Internet completely under their laws, would it not be fair that Griffith is brought to justice in his own country under his own laws?
Source:
New Zealand News