News Corp

Netflix is cable's 'frenemy'

BOSTON -- Is Netflix a friend or foe to the traditional cable TV companies? Cox Communications CEO Patrick Esser says it's a "frenemy."

There's no question that Netflix and other over-the-top Internet-based video services have shaken things up for traditional TV distributors and content owners. But is Netflix destroying the cable industry's business model?

Cox's Esser acknowledged today during a panel discussion here at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's Cable Show that there are times when Netflix may compete for an audience with cable TV providers. But as a broadband provider, he … Read more

Rebekah Brooks charged in phone-hacking scandal

The former head of News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper business Rebekah Brooks has been formally charged in the phone-hacking scandal that took the popular News of the World down.

The U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today announced that it has charged Brooks with three counts of "conspiracy to pervert the course of justice." CPS claims that last July, Brooks "conspired" with her husband, chauffeur, and others to "conceal documents, computers, and other electronic equipment from officers of the Metropolitan Police Service." CPS also charged Brooks and her assistant with "permanently&… Read more

News Corp. faces new hacking allegations involving pay TV

With a phone-hacking scandal still hanging over the head of News Corp. in Britain, Rupert Murdoch's international conglomerate is facing new hacking allegations in Australia.

According to the Australian Financial Review, e-mails and internal documents allegedly show that a "secret unit" inside News Corp. committed acts of corporate espionage against rival pay-TV services that may have resulted in the collapse of one company.

As part of the proof presented by the paper, editors there have posted to the Web more than 14,400 internal documents belonging to News Corp.

If the allegations prove true, News Corp. would … Read more

Ex-News Corp. exec re-arrested in hacking scandal, report says

London police have arrested six individuals in last year's News of the World phone-hacking scandal, and one report claims former News Corp. exec Rebekah Brooks is among them.

Citing sources, Britain's Sky News is reporting today that London police have arrested Brooks. Scotland Yard confirmed that one 43-year-old woman had been arrested, but did not provide her name. Brooks, who is 43, was a close ally to News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch, whose media conglomerate owned News of the World.

Last year's scandal, in which the newspaper was accused of hacking cell phones in order to dig … Read more

WSJ comes out for SOPA, more lawmakers pull support

One of America's most respected newspapers has come out on the side of copyright owners by supporting a controversial antipiracy legislation, which the technology sector has sworn to defeat.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial section today published a piece called "Brake the Internet Pirates." The paper said that the creative industries are being threatened by abusers "who hijack [the Internet's] architecture." The Journal wrote that regardless of what critics say, that is all the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would do.

"SOPA merely adapts the current avenues of legal recourse for infringement … Read more

Google calls Murdoch's piracy allegations 'nonsense'

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is talking nonsense, according to Google.

Murdoch, a Twitter user for only the past several weeks, used the service to fire a barrage of accusations Saturday night against President Obama and Google.

He accused the White House of being in the employ of "Silicon Valley paymasters." Murdoch claimed Google was profiting from advertisements sold against pirated materials. He also called the search company a "piracy leader." (Read more about Murdoch's Twitter tirade here).

In an e-mail sent to CNET on Sunday afternoon, Google responded to Murdoch's statements.

"This … Read more

Who is winning SOPA? Read Rupe Murdoch's Twitter feed

The White House raised concerns yesterday about controversial antipiracy bills being debated in Congress and one way to measure how furious some copyright owners are with President Obama is to read the Twitter posts of Rupert Murdoch.

"So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery," wrote an obviously angry Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world.

The Senate is debating the Protect IP Act (PIPA) while the House is doing the same with a similar bill, the Stop Online … Read more

Hulu Plus subscribers hit 1.5 million, sales jump 60 percent

The video-streaming service Hulu reported that revenue rose 60 percent last year and said its subscriber base now numbers 1.5 million.

Impressive, right? Hold on just a second.

As Hulu CEO Jason Kilar put it in a post on Hulu's blog:

We grew the business 60 percent from 2010 to approximately $420 million in revenue. We exceeded our plan despite the soft advertising market (economy) in the second half of 2011.... Hulu Plus now has more than 1.5 million paying subscribers. But let's put that into context. Hulu Plus is a subscription service that charges $7.… Read more

News Corp. pays $4.8M to phone hacking victim's family

News Corp., whose now-shuttered News of the World newspaper hacked into phone accounts of a teenage murder victim, agreed to pay a $4.8 million settlement with the girl's family.

According to The Wall Street Journal, News International, News Corp.'s British newspaper unit, will pay the family of Milly Dowler $3.2 million. It will give another $1.6 million to "charities chosen by the Dowler family that represent causes close to Milly and those that provide support to other victims of crime."

In 2002, News of the World reporters hacked into the mobile phone of … Read more