Praising mobster methods
Murdoch's U.S. arm paid off
in cyber-hacking, defamation
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News America has paid out more than $29 million to settle a suit over illegal cyber-hacking, the New York Times is reporting. Murdoch's U.S. operations have long been plagued by charges of shady conduct, the newspaper said.
According to the Times, a federal case in New Jersey brought by a company called Floorgraphics went to trial in 2009 in which News America was accused of,hacking its way into Floorgraphics’s password protected computer system, obtaining proprietary information and then disseminating false, misleading and damaging information about the plaintiff.
The complaint said the breach was traced to an I.P. address registered to News America and that after the break-in, Floorgraphics lost contracts from Safeway, Winn-Dixie and Piggly Wiggly, the Times reports.
Much of the lawsuit, the Times says, was based on the testimony of Robert Emmel, a former News America executive who had become a whistle-blower. After a few days of testimony, News America's parent company, News Corp., settled with Floorgraphics for $29.5 million and then, days later, bought it, even though it reportedly had sales of less than $1 million.
Earlier this year, News America paid out $125 million to Insignia Systems to settle allegations of anti-competitive behavior and violations of antitrust laws, the Times said, adding: "In the most costly payout, it spent half a billion dollars in 2010 on another settlement, just days before the case was scheduled to go to trial. The plaintiff, Valassis Communications, had already won a $300 million verdict in Michigan, but dropped the lawsuit in exchange for $500 million and an agreement to cooperate on certain ventures going forward."
In 2006 the state of Minnesota accused News America of engaging in unfair trade practices, and the company settled by agreeing to pay costs and not to falsely disparage its competitors.
News America was led at the time of the cyber-hack lawsuit by Paul V. Carlucci, who, according to Forbes, used to show the sales staff the scene in 'The Untouchables' in which Al Capone beats a man to death with a baseball bat. According to Emmel’s testimony, Carlucci said that any “bed-wetting liberals" among his staff could seek work elsewhere.
Carlucci continues to serve as head of News America and is publisher of Murdoch's New York Post tabloid.
News Corp. declined to respond to a Times request for comment.
Across the Atlantic, Britain's Labor Party leader, David Miliband, called for the breakup of Murdoch's news holdings.
"I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20% of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News," Miliband said. "I think it's unhealthy because that amount of power in one person's hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organization. If you want to minimize the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous."
According to the Times, a federal case in New Jersey brought by a company called Floorgraphics went to trial in 2009 in which News America was accused of,hacking its way into Floorgraphics’s password protected computer system, obtaining proprietary information and then disseminating false, misleading and damaging information about the plaintiff.
The complaint said the breach was traced to an I.P. address registered to News America and that after the break-in, Floorgraphics lost contracts from Safeway, Winn-Dixie and Piggly Wiggly, the Times reports.
Much of the lawsuit, the Times says, was based on the testimony of Robert Emmel, a former News America executive who had become a whistle-blower. After a few days of testimony, News America's parent company, News Corp., settled with Floorgraphics for $29.5 million and then, days later, bought it, even though it reportedly had sales of less than $1 million.
Earlier this year, News America paid out $125 million to Insignia Systems to settle allegations of anti-competitive behavior and violations of antitrust laws, the Times said, adding: "In the most costly payout, it spent half a billion dollars in 2010 on another settlement, just days before the case was scheduled to go to trial. The plaintiff, Valassis Communications, had already won a $300 million verdict in Michigan, but dropped the lawsuit in exchange for $500 million and an agreement to cooperate on certain ventures going forward."
In 2006 the state of Minnesota accused News America of engaging in unfair trade practices, and the company settled by agreeing to pay costs and not to falsely disparage its competitors.
News America was led at the time of the cyber-hack lawsuit by Paul V. Carlucci, who, according to Forbes, used to show the sales staff the scene in 'The Untouchables' in which Al Capone beats a man to death with a baseball bat. According to Emmel’s testimony, Carlucci said that any “bed-wetting liberals" among his staff could seek work elsewhere.
Carlucci continues to serve as head of News America and is publisher of Murdoch's New York Post tabloid.
News Corp. declined to respond to a Times request for comment.
Across the Atlantic, Britain's Labor Party leader, David Miliband, called for the breakup of Murdoch's news holdings.
"I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20% of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News," Miliband said. "I think it's unhealthy because that amount of power in one person's hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organization. If you want to minimize the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous."
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