Rupert watch - Apocalypse when?

[autorank]

Rupert watch - Apocalypse when?
By Michael Collins
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Rupert Murdoch is in big trouble. It is not a perfect storm but we're getting there.

British attorney Mark Lewis is in New York to take legal action in behalf of clients who may have had their phones hacked in the United States.

More significantly, News Corp withdrew its bid to buy the remaining 61% of BSkyB, the highly profitable British cable TV franchise (£1.1 billion 2011, News Corp owns 39% now). (Murdoch images: left (1), right (2)

Last week, James Murdoch stepped down as chairman of BSkyB after surviving a challenge to his position just weeks ago.

BBC reports:
[blockquote"The News of the World had thousands of people they hacked. Some of them were in America at the time, either traveling or resident there," he said. [Mark Lewis, British attorney representing phone hacking victims in claims in the U.S.]

News Corporation also withdrew its bid to buy the remaining 61% stake in satellite broadcaster BSkyB saying it had become "too difficult to progress in this climate".

Mr Lewis told the BBC News Channel that it was significant that legal action over phone hacking had moved outside the United Kingdom for the first time. BBC April 12 (3)
In addition, News Corp subsidiary NDS has credible charges of cable pay TV piracy (4) to deal with. (Cisco announced its intention purchase NDS last month just as the cable piracy charges were raised.)

BSkyB played a big role in future News Corp profits, net new revenue in a locked in British cable market. Instead of purchasing the remaining 61%, News Corp has its 39%, ownership under review by British authorities to determine if Murdoch is "fit and proper" as an owner of any interest in the company.

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The lost opportunity to buy the remaining 61% of BSkyB and risk to the current 39% will, no doubt, fuel the shareholder suit claiming that Murdoch harms News Corp income because of his skewed judgement, nepotism, and legally challenged activities. That suit now has real legs with the £6.6 billion ($10.0 bil U.S.) per year company slipping away from News Corp.

Watch

*what happens with BSkyB. The approval of ownership is a huge issue. If Murdoch is deemed not "fit and proper" and has to surrender the 39% ownership, he's out period. That's a huge loss.

* what happens to once News Corp heir apparent James Murdoch. He took the heat at the Parliament hearings on phone hacking. He's out as heir apparent. He is also out as chairman at BSkyB (James once worked for alleged cable pirate, NDS (in 2002);

* watch what ITV does with BSkyB and the pay TV piracy charges. ITV's cable pay TV offering collapsed while trying to compete with BSkyB. Was this due to alleged Murdoch sponsored hacking and piracy by NDS? If ITV goes to court, that could produce a flood of damaging information. This is another scandal that could spell the end of Murdoch.

Finally, watch any action against Murdoch in New York state courts for phone hacking.

We may be approaching the time for Murdoch to make a deal and flee the scene.

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This article may be reproduced with attribution of authorship and a link.[/cener]

The Money Party (5)

[center]Addendum: Opportunity costs and potential financial losses for BSkyB
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News Corp could have owned 100% of BSkyB and now has its 39% interest at risk due to various scandals.
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Michael Collins
[link:themoneyparty.org|The Money Party]

Smirking Chimp
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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/michael-collins/42590/rupert-watch-apocalypse-when

Links:
1) http://www.flickr.com/photos/hubertburdamedia/5386961967/
2) http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/374716426/
3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17686754
4) http://agonist.org/michael_collins/20120404/wheres_the_criminal_investigation_of_the_murdoch_empire_shareholders_to_the_rescue
5) http://themoneyparty.org[6 http://themoneyparty.org/main/

[scarletwoman]

1. Great to see you here! Thanks for posting this!

It's a lovely thought, to think of the Murdoch empire crumbling away, bit by bit...

[salin]

3. Indeed!

[autorank]

6. Thanks!

Share the wealth...of information. The bottom line is the bottom line here. The shareholder suit has some serious backing and their contention is that Rupert costs the company money by his nepotism, sketchy quasi legal behavior, and the suit also mentions the zany politics. All this, the suit in Delaware claims, costs News Corp shareholders money. Well, damn right it does and now they can prove it with an estimated $.25 billion in settlement costs in the UK for phone hacking. If one of the cable companies Murdoch may well have put out of business through the alleged piracy scheme of NDS (where both of his sons worked in 2002), then the damages are in the billions.

Best bet now is that if Murdoch has to give up the 39% of the British cable network, the loss of revenue there will justify his removal as chairman.

Murdoch said he wanted to compete in an open market of ideas on the latest charges of cable pay TV piracy. Well, we are and he's geting his ass handed to him

[malaise]

2. I'm lovin' it

Thanks for those great links

[autorank]

8. It is a thing of beauty! Here's a big link that you will enjoy

These are the folks who broke the pay tv hacking scandal, the Australian Financial Review

http://www.afr.com/paytvpiracy

Very thorough and a baseline for Rupert's demise in court when the competitors he put out of business sue for damages.

[malaise]

9. Thanks autorank

[autorank]

14. Welcome!

[oldhippydude]

4. i remember watergate

a third rate burglary attempt or so dismissed at the time.. in fact Nixon defeated Mc Govern handily in 72 despite the capture of the burglars..

that incident started a slow drip drip drip.. that didn't even start to gain momentum till the "saturday night massacre" when Nixon fired Archibald Cox the special prosecutor appointed to the case.. never the less eventually Nixon ended up resigning..

i guess my point is that we are not even past the beginning of the beginning.. what will ultimately happen to Rupert and all those folks.. dare we hope for something under RICO?

[autorank]

10. Good point

But we're getting there. We won't know what straw breaks the camel's back but it must be getting burdensome for Joe Camel.

I think that it will be a full blossoming of the cable pay tv piracy story. The Murdoch argument is that this has been vetted in court. Bull shit Rupert. The Canal+ suit against NDS was settled when Murdoch bought Canal+ (a French cable firm, like NDS) from Vivendi). This settled the suit (can't sue yourself) and all the case materials became the property of News Corp. ITV used Canal+'s security code, which NDS allegedly hacked. ITV was crushed by BSkyB in competing for the British cable market and lost a billion pound sterling in the process. They can reopen the suit by going after Cisco, which bought NDS. That would probably kill the Murdoch sale of NDS to Cisco (as an added feature). Damn, complicated but truth will out.

[Warpy]

5. I'm sure he thinks it already has. His crooked sons are out

and that dynasty of filth in news he was counting on is not going to materialize in his lifetime. He'd have to wait for crooked grandchildren to grow up enough to take leadership and he's not going to live that long. His stock has lost considerable value and there is rebellion among other shareholders who really don't want to get holding the bag when he's completely trashed the outfit.

[autorank]

11. My kingdom, my kingdom...

You have that right. Of note, Murdoch, in a fit of extreme hubris, turned on former pal British PM David Cameron. Embarrassed Cameron in a sting showing pay for play options with the Conservative government (what a surprise!). Cameron was going to fix the BSkyB approval for Murdoch to buy the remaining 61% before phone hacking blew up last July. Now the British regulatory agency needs to decide if Murdoch is 'fit and proper' as the owner of the remaining 39%f BSkyB. Well, if that 39% is lost to News Corp, it's adios Rupert. Let the indictments roulez !

[LiberalArkie]

7. Which happened first, the hacking of iTV or the hacking of DirecTV, they were both done the same way

[autorank]

12. Both were done the same way

The thioc.com hacker site supported by NDS would take on projects, hack a Murdoch competitor, then the hits would roll in, millions to get the code or cards to get free services from the hacked entities. ITV picked an NDS competitor in 1998 and that was probably their doom since the hackers went to work on it.

Also in 1998, US law enforcement did a sting with NDS in Washington State that "accidentally" resulted in a bunch of security code/pirated cable smart cards being released to the hacker community. The sting turned into actual piracy due to sloppy work on the part of NDS and customs.
http://afr.com/p/business/marketing_media/covert_action_costs_directv_millions_yXzhccDt4KKIVhAwqkjzqO

So, hard to tall which came first but they were both there and done in similar fashion.

Good question.

[autorank]

13. Kick

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, autorank.