Australia Extradites Head Of Software Copying Ring To US
from the and-so-it-goes dept
Raymond was the first of a few to send in the information about how Australia has extradited someone to the US for making unauthorized copies of software. The guy in question, Hew Griffiths, has never been to the US and didn't profit at all from his activities -- but may now be facing 10 years in jail in the US. Some Australian legal experts are understandably confused about this -- especially since other folks involved in the same copying ring were tried in their home countries, and since the copying wasn't for profit, it seems like the sentence is a bit harsh. As an Australian chief judge wrote in a recent article: "International copyright violations are a great problem. However, there is also the consideration that a country must protect its nationals from being removed from their homeland to a foreign country merely because the commercial interests of that foreign country are claimed to have been affected by the person's behaviour in Australia and the foreign country can exercise influence over Australia." There's no doubt that this guy was involved in cracking plenty of software and making it available to others in the group -- though you can argue about the real economic impact of his efforts (the numbers thrown out by the software industry are clearly bogus). The more important point is that this really is a question of commercial interests, and should be covered by civil courts, rather than criminal ones.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Citizen outrage in Australia
The latest effort is $3000 worth of computer, internet, and MSOffice training the government pays for. All people have to do is attend the classes. It's all free to the public.
But the public isn't buying it (pun intended).
Some companies are even paying people $100 to attend a presentation on the 5-day training course, then an additional $200 to attend the courses. Sales people are going door to door making the offer.
Don't look for citizen outrage in such a fatted-calf population. Australians only get pissed off when things don't go their subjective, personal way.
The sort of citizen fury you're looking for has long since been tossed into the TooHard bin...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I mean if its Microsoft, do they not have an office in Sydney, could they not press the charges?
Microsoft Australia Inc instead of shipping a guy to America so Microsoft Inc can get him behind bars?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Realms of Ambiguity
If Starbucks brings in cheap foreign laborers who cough blood all over the lattes they serve to Australians, could the CEO have an arrest warrant issued in Australia?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Refuse to cooperate and we start killing your kang
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wusses
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Australia Extradites Head Of Software Copying Ring
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Screwed up legal system
If it's not illegal then they can ask our government to make it illegal (they'll probably say yes if it's from the US) and then prosecute me if I continue to do that after it becomes illegal.
I should not be able to be prosecuted for something that isn't illegal when and where I did it - by which I mean my physical location.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Screwed up legal system
Ever notice the similarity between the spelling of Aussie and wussie? Coincidence? I think not!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Imperial Amerika
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gets what he deserves
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I am an Australian citizen and I am outraged.
@Shutup
That is a very simplistic view. They may be going through this because it's easy to get the current gov to comply and people like you don't care about rights unless it's your neighbour.
The issue is not whether he broke the law. Let's assume he broke the law. He should be tried and jailed *here*. It's hard on his family and friends who now cannot visit him.
@mike
Glad you liked the story.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
*#@% Libreal Party
Howard's aim in life appears to be to climb so far up Bush's arse that he can kiss him on the lips.
Before anyone starts, I am not a Labor [sic] Party man, since I think they are little better. Indeed, the S Aus Premier, Mike Rann, is planning to pass a law so that David Hicks gag order, imposed by the Military Commision which treid him (in a kangaroo court), has legal validity in South Australia, even though it is unconstitutional to enforce it in either Australia or South Australia.
rant truncated before I completely loose the plot.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
hi 2 all.....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Australia Extradites Head Of Software Copying Ring To US
________
Homes For Sale
[ link to this | view in chronology ]