The White House has given its clearest signal yet that President Obama would not sign either of the two anti-piracy bills currently making their way through the US legislative process.
In a blog post over the weekend, the White House wrote that Obama will not ‘support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.’
It added that ‘any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small.’
The statement follows comments made by Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, who said in a speech in December: ‘The United States wants the internet to remain a space where economic, political, and social exchanges flourish. To do that, we need to protect people who exercise their rights online, and we also need to protect the internet itself from plans that would undermine its fundamental characteristics.’
In the UK, a judge at Westminster Magistrates Court has ruled that student Richard O’Dwyer can be extradited to the US. O’Dwyer ran a website, TVShack, which published linked to downloadable movies and TV programmes. The case was brought by the US Customs and Enforcement agency, which claimed that O’Dwyer earned $230,000 in advertising revenue from the site.
TVShack never hosted illegal material itself and O’Dwyer hasn’t been accused of breaking the law in the UK.
If O’Dwyer is extradited, he will be the first British citizen to face trial in the US for such an offence.
