Career
Griffiths was living in Berkeley Vale in the Central Coast Region of NSW, Australia before he was placed on remand at Silverwater Correctional Centre. After fighting extradition for almost 3 years, Griffiths was finally extradited from Australia to the United States and on 20 February 2007, he appeared before Magistrate Judge Barry R. Portez of the United States. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. On 20 April, it was announced by the United States. Department of Justice that Griffiths had entered a plea of guilty.
His case is of interest in that he is an Australian resident who has been indicted by a court in Virginia, United States for copyright infringement and conspiracy to infringe copyright under the United States Code.
Hew Raymond Griffiths, born in the United Kingdom, had never at any point physically left Australia since arriving in his adopted country at an early age. This is an unusual situation as the United States extradition has not targeted a fugitive or a dangerous person who financially profited from his activities.
However, the Australian courts and executive government have agreed to treat Griffiths" activities as having taken place in a United States jurisdiction. The case therefore highlights the serious consequences for Australian Internet users who are charged with distributing United States copyright-protected material.
Griffiths" extradition was very controversial in Australia, where his actions were not criminal.
The matter of United States of America v Griffiths has been cited as an example of how bilateral arrangements can lead to undesirable effects such as a loss of sovereignty and the introduction of draconian measures. On 22 June 2007 Hew Griffiths was sentenced to 51 months in prison for conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. Taking into account the 3 years he spent in Australian and United States prisons prior to sentencing, he served a further 15 months in the United States. Griffiths" sentence attracted significant attention in Australia, and some attention in the United States and other countries which have recently signed, or are currently negotiating, bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the United States of America. Griffiths finally returned to Australia on 2 March 2008, after 5 weeks as an illegal alien in the United States immigration detention system following his release from prison on 26 January 2008 (Australia Day).
A condition of his repatriation to Australia was that he never again re-enter the United States of America, a country he had never visited before being extradited to lieutenant
