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.
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  1. identicon
    Solo, 7 May 2007 @ 3:58pm

    Regardless of the "crime" (how many people did he kill?) if I was an Australian citizen, I would be outraged that my government is handing out its people to a foreigh country.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Bob Jones, 7 May 2007 @ 4:15pm

    If a crime wasn't committed on US soil, what is their problem?

    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 thread ]

  3. identicon
    dorpus, 7 May 2007 @ 4:18pm

    Realms of Ambiguity

    As I just learned in my job orientation today, places like Starbucks or Wal-Mart are tuberculosis epidemics waiting to happen, since they do not screen their workers for TB.

    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 thread ]

  4. icon
    Vincent Clement (profile), 7 May 2007 @ 4:30pm

    Only one thing is missing from the revamped Techdirt: the automatic dorpus filter.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Vincent Clement (profile), 7 May 2007 @ 4:40pm

    People should be alarmed by this unwarranted extradition. But then does anything the US government does these day alarm anyone?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Kara, 7 May 2007 @ 4:40pm

    Refuse to cooperate and we start killing your kang

    I'm an American but I sure am disappointed that the Aussies caved in to the demands of our government. If they hadn't cooperated, maybe we'd be talking about invading Sydney.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2007 @ 5:58pm

    Wusses

    Hey Australia, who's your daddy? Wusses.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2007 @ 7:15pm

    John Howard is so far up Bush's ass he can see Tony Blair's ankles..

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Gregorious I, 7 May 2007 @ 7:20pm

    I'm an aussie and this is just typical of our current government bowing to US demands. We've also just signed a free trade agreement which is why this stupidity can happen... what a crock

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Mischa, 7 May 2007 @ 8:54pm

    Re:

    LOL!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    crucible, 7 May 2007 @ 9:15pm

    Australia Extradites Head Of Software Copying Ring

    Sadly the America that once stood for freedom, principles and the rule of law has been replaced by a heavy handed, corrupt and autocratic machine.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Shaun, 8 May 2007 @ 4:15am

    Screwed up legal system

    People should only have to answer to crimes in the countries that they commit them in, I shouldn't have to know American laws as well as the Australian ones unless I actually travel to the US. Anyone from the US can prosecute me here if I do something illegal.

    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 thread ]

  13. identicon
    Fred Flint, 8 May 2007 @ 9:13am

    Imperial Amerika

    Maybe all those crazies who worry about One World Government have a point after all. It's already here and it's called the government of the U.S.A.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Shutup, 8 May 2007 @ 11:09am

    Gets what he deserves

    Come on people, the guy broke a law! He's going to jail, deal with it, he did something wrong, they wouldn't be going through so much trouble to extradite the person!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Raymond, 8 May 2007 @ 5:24pm

    @solo
    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 thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 May 2007 @ 3:03am

    Re: Screwed up legal system

    It's good to be American! I like being a member of the ruling class!

    Ever notice the similarity between the spelling of Aussie and wussie? Coincidence? I think not!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    |333173|3|_||3, 9 May 2007 @ 7:48am

    *#@% Libreal Party

    If People would stop voting for an idiot whose eyebrows wiegh more than his brain (not hard, in his case), and who, when he tells you "the sky is blue", can be trusted about the first three words only because they are both blindingly obvious and completely useless. The worst thing about him is that he commands an absolute majority in both houses of Parliament, and so can do what he likes, with an enabling act if necessary.
    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 thread ]

  18. identicon
    Ody, 22 Nov 2007 @ 9:11pm

    Re: Citizen outrage in Australia

    Australia continues to spend billions at the federal and state level to build technical literacy.

    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 thread ]

  19. identicon
    jackjames, 3 Feb 2009 @ 4:13am

    hi 2 all.....

    Hi all just wanted to say hello, i'm a novice when it comes to this and while it's more of a hobbie theres always the hope it will turn into more. enjoy your stay Try not to let people here drive you crazy... Been looking to get back into 3D graphics. I'm 22 years old and going to be a graduate student (in computer science) soon. I'm not sure how much I can contribute, given that it seems everyone has gotten so much better but maybe I'll try some things like, fancy shader demos, renders that will also run at 60fps, develop plugins...or just make spaceships. Sydney Dating

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Homes For Sale, 21 Feb 2009 @ 6:33am

    Australia Extradites Head Of Software Copying Ring To US

    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
    ________
    Homes For Sale

    link to this | view in thread ]


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