Filmhub: Richard O'Dwyer's new venture

Richard O'Dwyer has been in the news quite a bit over the last few years. He was arrested on criminal copyright charges after starting TVShack, a website which made him £140,000 by providing links to illegal television and film download sites.

The Westminster Magistrate Court's found that there were direct consequences of criminal activity by Richard O'Dwyer in the USA, even though he had never left he UK, meaning that O'Dwyer should be tried in the US rather than the UK. Home Secretary Theresa May then rubber stamped the application and  O'Dwyer only narrowly escaped extradition  and criminal trial in the US by entering into a plea bargain, agreeing to attend the USA to visit a court and to pay over a limited amount of compensation.

One might have thought that O'Dwyers adventures in copyright law would end there. But no, the latest news is that he is now working on the launch of a new video streaming portal called Filmhub.

According to TorrentFreak, Filmhub will enable television and film enthusiasts to stream and discover video content from the major networks and studios. O'Dwyer's selling point is a "discovery engine" that makes personal recommendations, allowing users to find content relevant to them. It's not clear exactly how Filmhub will work - afterall Netflix, Amazon and Lovefilm already make recommendations for their users, based on users' previous film choices - but it seems that Filmhub will be authorised to aggregate content from these three providers, making it a one-stop shop for film and televsion.

O'Dwyer says:

"It could be described as a hub to manage everything you’re watching and wish to watch. What you like and dislike. And importantly delivering Movie & TV suggestions personalized to your own taste and current mood, with features to connect with others and share your opinions.

The aim with Filmhub is to bring everything into a single reliable source the community can build upon."

O'Dwyer says that he has learnt from his adventures in copyright law over the last few years and that "hopefully this new project is a way to give back to everyone."

Watch this space.

O'Dwyer escapes the wrath of the USA

Richard O'Dwyer, the 24 year old UK student who created TVShack, which offered consumers the chance to stream and download hundreds of copyrighted films and TV programmes without the permission of copyright owners, has escaped extradition to the USA. O'Dwyer has seemingly done a plea bargain - whereby he will attend the USA and visit a court - and pay over a limited amount of compensation, avoiding both extradition and a criminal trial for the infringements. O'Dwer was a student at Sheffield Hallam University and made an alleged £147,000 ($230,000) running his original incarnation of TVShack, and after that was closed down, a second similar service, before that was finally shut down in 2010. The site did not host content, but linked to infringing sites. 

After UK Home Secretary Teresa May blocked the extradition of hacker Gary McKinnon to the USA on human rights grounds, and said she was introducing more stringent tests before extradition requests for trials outside the UK could take place, O'Dwyer remained one of the last extradition cases to be heard. It seems his legal team sought a compromise with US prosecutors although just as talks were reaching a crucial point, New York was struck by Hurricane Sandy, delaying any agreement which was eventually announced in the High Court yesterday. More on the history of Mr Dwyer's trials and tribulations here and here .

And a more opinionated view at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/28/richard-odwyer-films-struggle-liberty