Hew Raymond Griffiths

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Hew Raymond Griffiths (born 8th November 1962 in the UK) has been accused by the United States of being a ring leader of DrinkOrDie or DOD, an underground software piracy network. He is facing extradition from Australia to the United States. Griffiths was living in Bateau Bay in the Central Coast Region of NSW, Australia before he was placed on remand at Silverwater Detention Centre. He has been detained for a period of close to 3 years. His case is of interest in that he is an Australian who has been indicted by a court in Virginia for US copyright infringement. Hew Raymond Griffiths has never at any point physically left Australia since arriving in his adopted country at an early age. This is an unusual situation in that the US extradition is not targeting a fugitive.

His case highlights on one interpretation the dangerous results of pirating US copyright-protected material through the internet. Alternatively, it represents a strong warning to internet users in countries such as Australia whose law enforcement and justice authorities are willing to abrogate their legal responsibilities towards their own nationals for the ends of foreign commercial interests.

Hew Raymond Griffiths is now awaiting a final determination on his surrender to face trial in the United States. If convicted, he may be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years prison and fined as much as US$500,000.