Rupert Murdoch and the Corruption of the British Media

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: Raoul Simons of Times arrested

Man arrested as part of Operation Weeting believed to be deputy football editor at Times

By James Robinson and Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 7 September 2011 17.57 BST

The 35-year-old man arrested on Wednesday by detectives investigating phone hacking is believed to be the deputy football editor of the Times, Raoul Simons.

Simons joined the Times from the Evening Standard in August 2009, but has been on extended leave since late 2010.

Scotland Yard is believed to have arrested Simons at 5.55am on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

He has been released on police bail until "a date in October".

Unlike many of those arrested by the 50-strong team of detectives from Operation Weeting the man was not arrested by prior appointment.

Following the arrest he was taken to a north London police station. He was questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977.

Scotland Yard refused to make any further comment.

Fifteen people have previously been arrested as part of the police's Operation Weeting

[Douglas Caddy]

Technology firm 'deleted emails'

The Independent

By Andrew Woodcock

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

News International has asked a technology firm to delete emails and other documents 13 times since 2009, MPs investigating the phone-hacking scandal have been told.

Technology company HCL, which provides services under contract to News International, informed the Commons Home Affairs Committee in August that it was aware of the deletion of hundreds of thousands of emails on nine occasions between April 2010 and July 2011, but said it did not know of anything "untoward" behind the requests.

Today, HCL's solicitor Stuart Benson contacted the committee again to say that a further four requests had come to light - one of which related to the deletion of emails from an inbox of a user who had not accessed his account for eight years.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "The request for deletion of folders and emails by News International is concerning.

"The committee will continue to investigate the issue of phone hacking and the removal of any information that could possibly point to the prevalence of phone hacking by those working in the organisation."

HCL's solicitors said that the four newly-uncovered requests involved:

:: The deletion in December 2009 of emails from the inbox of a user who had not accessed his email account for eight years.

:: The deletion in February 2010 of personal folders under the name "Gabriel/uploaded".

:: The removal of a personal folder in September 2010.

:: The deletion of certain bad or corrupted files in June 2011.

On each occasion, the files concerned were deleted.

PA

[Douglas Caddy]

Hacking Arrest Widens the Pool

The Wall Street Journal

By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW, STEVE STECKLOW and JEANNE WHALEN

September 8, 2011

LONDON—U.K. police arrested a man currently employed by News Corp.'s Times of London newspaper, whose voice allegedly can be heard on a tape—which was seized by police when he worked at another British newspaper—in which he receives instructions on how to hack a mobile phone.

The Metropolitan Police said they arrested a 35-year-old man early Wednesday at his home on suspicion of illegally intercepting voice mails. He wasn't named and was released on bail without charge after questioning at a North London police station.

A person familiar with the matter identified the man as Raoul Simons, who joined the Times in August 2009. He had been deputy soccer editor but has been on extended leave since late 2010, the person said.

While the development marks the first arrest of a News Corp. staffer who didn't work at the company's recently closed News of the World tabloid newspaper, the arrest is likely not connected to his employment at the Times of London. Rather, it likely stems from Mr. Simons's alleged connection to a hacking-related tape recording that surfaced while he worked for the Evening Standard.

In the tape recording, News of the World's longtime private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, is heard instructing an unidentified male voice on how to hack the cellphone of Gordon Taylor, a former top U.K. soccer player. The tape surfaced in a lawsuit by Mr. Taylor against News of the World over phone hacking. It isn't clear when the tape was made. Mr. Mulcaire tells the man there are "three messages on there from Tottenham," a North London soccer team. In the recording of their phone conversation, Mr. Mulcaire cautions the other person: "Do not delete anything."

It isn't clear who recorded the conversation. Mr. Mulcaire's lawyer declined to comment.

The tape recording was one of two key pieces of evidence that surfaced just before News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit, News International, moved to settle Mr. Taylor's suit for about £700,000, or more than $1 million, in 2008.

At the time, Mr. Simons worked under a contract at London's Evening Standard, according to a person close to the newspaper. When he was hired by the Times in 2009, his alleged connection to the tape wasn't known, people familiar with the matter said. But just over a year later, a recording of the tape was posted on the website of the New York Times.

The Times of London launched an internal investigation, the people familiar with the matter said. One of these people said Mr. Simons acknowledged his voice was on the tape, but denied hacking Mr. Taylor's phone.

People familiar with the matter say it doesn't appear Mr. Simons ever worked for News of the World.

Just as the Times of London'' investigation began, Mr. Simons went on medical leave, which has lasted about a year and has prevented the paper from completing its inquiry or taking any action.

Mr. Simons couldn't be reached for comment. Mr. Simons declined a request for comment by The Wall Street Journal in July.

A spokesman for News International said the company "continues to cooperate fully" with the police investigation.

Associated Newspapers, a unit of Daily Mail & General Trust PLC, owned the Evening Standard until early 2009, when it sold a controlling stake in the paper to Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev. It retains a minority stake. A spokesman for Associated Newspapers didn't immediately comment. A spokeswoman for Daily Mail & General Trust declined to comment. The Evening Standard declined to comment.

It is the latest in a string of arrests this year as part of the probe into alleged voice-mail interception and alleged corrupt payments to police by the News of the World newspaper, which News Corp. closed in July amid the phone-hacking scandal.

News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.

The probe by the Metropolitan Police, also known as Scotland Yard, has included the arrest of two of News of the World's former top editors, a long-serving former managing editor as well as other senior editors and reporters. Also among those arrested has been a police constable who was working on the phone-hacking investigation and suspected of leaking information; the officer has been suspended.

Police also have questioned Guardian newspaper journalist Amelia Hill, who has written about arrests authorities have made in the case. Ms. Hill was questioned several days ago in connection with alleged leaks of information, the Guardian said Wednesday.

Ms. Hill didn't respond to an email requesting comment.

The Guardian said in a statement: "Journalists would no doubt be concerned if the police sought to criminalize conversations between off-record sources and reporters."

The phone-hacking saga dates back to 2006 with the arrest of News of the World former royals correspondent Clive Goodman and Mr. Mulcaire, who was on the tabloid's payroll. Both were sentenced to prison in 2007 after pleading guilty to illegally intercepting phone messages.

—Paul Sonne contributed to this article.

Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com

Copyright

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: Taylor 'wanted to be vindicated or made rich', say lawyers

Letter from News of the World's legal advisers says PFA boss increased claim to £1m after disclosure of 'for Neville' email

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Thursday 8 September 2011 15.03 BST

Lawyers for Gordon Taylor said he wanted to be "vindicated or made rich" in negotiations over his controversial £700,000 phone-hacking settlement, according to the News of the World's lawyers.

Taylor, the head of the Professional Footballers' Association, had got hold of a highly damaging internal email that proved phone hacking at the tabloid was not confined to "one rogue reporter".

The remarks were allegedly made after three previous offers for damages were made by the tabloid – the first for £50,000, the second for £150,000 and the third for £350,000.

The new detail on Taylor's confidential negotiations has emerged in a letter from News of the World's legal advisers to the Commons culture, media and sport select committee.

"We suggested making an initial offer of £50,000," said Farrer & Co, which advised News International over the level of payouts. "However we advised that it was inevitable that Mr Taylor would want more in view of the fact that his initial demand for £250,000 had been increased by £750,000 to £1m."

When the first two offers were refused, News of the World told Farrer to increase the offer again.

"The firm was instructed to increase the Part 36 offer to £350,000. This offer was also rejected. Mr Lewis [Mark, Taylor's solicitor] informed Mr Pike [Julian, a partner at Farrer] that Mr Taylor 'wanted to be vindicated or made rich'."

At that point Taylor was demanding £1m in settlement as by now the significance of the so-called "for Neville" email was understood.

"Following the disclosure of documents by the Metropolitan police and others to Mr Taylor, which were then disclosed by Mr Taylor to NGN [News Group Newspapers], Mr Taylor demanded £1m in way of settlement, plus costs," Farrer confirms in its letter to the select committee.

In the end Taylor managed to get £425,000 in damages from the News of the World plus costs. James Murdoch confirmed at the select committee hearing in July that Taylor's overall payout was between £600,000 and £700,000 including costs.

Other letters just published by the select committee reveal:

• Stuart Kuttner, the former managing editor of News of the World, has written to say he is unable to re-appear before the select committee because of a police investigation and ill health. He told the committee he had "a heart attack and stroke last year and a further heart attack last month".

• Jon Chapman, the former head of the legal affairs at News International, did not receive £1.6m in a settlement when he left the company. His solicitors have told the committee his "compromise agreement with News International was a small fraction of £1.6m". He continues to have the company's private medical insurance until September

[Douglas Caddy]

Culture secretary criticises police questioning of reporters

Jeremy Hunt stresses difference between off-the-record briefings and payments to police revealed by phone-hacking investigation

By James Robinson

guardian.co.uk,

Thursday 8 September 2011 18.07 BST

The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has warned against an overreaction by police against journalists after it emerged that officers had questioned a Guardian journalist over alleged leaks from Scotland Yard's phone-hacking inquiry.

The cabinet minister told MPs that he could not comment on the specific case, but went on to add: "There is an important difference between off-the-record briefing and the payment of money by or to the police in return for information.

"Journalists must operate within the law, but, as the prime minister told the [parliamentary] liaison committee, as we go through this entire process we must be careful not to overreact in a way that would undermine the foundations of a free society."

Hunt was responding to a question by Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, who said: "There is a world of difference between a journalist who bribes a police officer for information and a journalist who gets information from a police officer, freely given. The former corrodes our democracy, while the latter protects it."

Guardian journalist Amelia Hill, who part of the Guardian's team reporting on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, was questioned by police under caution several days ago in a move that has been condemned by the NUJ and media watchdog the Media Standards Trust.

A 51-year-old detective was arrested last month in connection with alleged leaks from the Scotland Yard phone-hacking investigation. At the time there were reports that the officer had passed information to the Guardian. However, the newspaper said at the time it had "no comment to make on the sources of our journalism".

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: Les Hinton rejects Clive Goodman's claims

Former NI boss stands by evidence that he believed News of the World royal editor was 'only person' involved in phone hacking

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 9 September 2011 13.30 BST

Les Hinton, the former boss of News International, has dismissed an allegation by the former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman that the reporter was offered his job back after being imprisoned for phone hacking as long as he did not implicate the paper at his trial.

In a letter to MPs published on Friday, Hinton said he has no reason to believe that Goodman's claim was "accurate" or that there was any evidence to support his allegation.

Hinton added that he stands by evidence that he gave to a parliamentary committee in 2007 and 2009 in which he said he believed Goodman was "the only person" involved in phone hacking.

Hinton, a lifelong employee of News Corp who ended up as Rupert Murdoch's chief lieutenant until he resigned in July, made his comments in a letter to the Commons culture, sport and media select committee.

It is the first time he has said anything about the phone-hacking allegations since his previous appearances in front of the select committee in 2007 and 2009.

"I answered all questions truthfully and to the best of my knowledge," said Hinton.

It is his remarks about Goodman's claims that are most significant and indicate the legal line News International is likely to take in relation to the former royal editor's sensational claims.

Goodman's letter was written four years ago and was particularly important because it claimed phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings chaired by the then editor Andy Coulson.

He also claimed Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.

Hinton said: "As for Mr Goodman's assertion that he had been promised he could come back to a job at the newspaper 'if [he] did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in [his] mitigation plea'. I had no reason to believe that his allegation was accurate, and am not aware of any evidence to support it. Accordingly, I testified before the committee in 2009, no evidence was provided to me that the conduct of Mr Goodman had spread beyond him."

Earlier this week Crone said at a select committee hearing that Coulson was eager to re-hire Goodman even if he was convicted and jailed for phone-hacking offences. However, he was not questioned about the claim that it was only if he promised not to implicate the paper at his trial.

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: Harbottle & Lewis lawyer 'found no criminal activity'

Abramson says brief was 'narrow' and did not involve discussions about illegal activities

By Lisa O'Carroll

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 9 September 2011 14.38 BST

The senior lawyer at the law firm accused by Rupert Murdoch of making "a major mistake" in the News of the World investigation into phone hacking is adamant he did not discover any evidence of criminal activity at the paper.

It is understood that Lawrence Abramson insists the brief handed by News International to Harbottle & Lewis, where he then worked, was "narrow" and did not involve any discussion about illegal activities such as paying police.

The lawyer has told sources that Harbottle & Lewis did not discuss "criminal activity" with the News International executive who had hired the firm and it was "never on the radar".

Harbottle, also lawyers for the Prince of Wales, had been asked to examine about 2,500 internal emails exchanges among staff following claims by the paper's former royal editor, Clive Goodman, that his editor, Andy Coulson, knew about phone hacking and that others on the paper were also involved in the same activity.

It is believed Abramson – who now works at another law firm, Fladgate – is unhappy with reports on Friday claiming he had raised concerns with News International about criminal activities but they had dismissed them. Abramson is a commercial lawyer and would not necessarily have recognised criminal activity in the first instance.

In a letter to the culture, sport and media select committee, Abramson, says he queried about a dozen emails out of the 2,500 looked at by members of his team at Harbottle. The lawyer wanted to know if the emails fell inside his remit.

When he asked News International what he should do about them it was explained to him why these fell outside "the scope of what News International Limited ("News") had instructed Harbottle & Lewis to consider".

News International's former head of legal affairs, Jon Chapman, made similar remarks at the select committee on Tuesday when asked why a dozen emails fell outside the scope of the inquiry.

"If that's a suggestion that there were some that indicated criminal activity other than voicemail interception, I do not think he is trying to say that. I do not really understand that sentence – I have not had the benefit of looking at his evidence," said Chapman.

[Douglas Caddy]

Matthew Freud Will See You Now

If the PR whiz can steer himself and his wife, Elisabeth Murdoch, through the News Corp. scandal, he could emerge as a central force in the empire

Business Week Magazine September 1, 2011

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/matthew-freud-will-see-you-now-09012011.html

[Steve Knight]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14899265

13 September 2011 Last updated at 13:52

Hacking MPs recall News International's James Murdoch

James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch give evidence before a parliamentary committee James Murdoch was questioned by MPs for nearly three hours in July

James Murdoch is to face more questions from MPs investigating the News of the World (NoW) phone-hacking scandal.

Culture committee chairman John Whittingdale said he was recalling News International's chairman to give evidence for a second time.

It comes after MPs heard conflicting evidence over how much Mr Murdoch knew about the practice at the NoW.

Separately, it has emerged the mother of a 7/7 bombing victim is to pursue a civil case against News International.

The case of Sheila Henry, whose son, Christian Small, was killed in the 2005 Russell Square explosion, will be one of six test cases for civil damages claims against News Group Newspapers over phone-hacking claims.

'Happy to appear'

It is not known when Mr Murdoch will appear before the culture committee.

Mr Whittingdale, its chairman, said the committee wanted to first hear evidence from other witnesses, including former senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton and Mark Lewis, the lawyer representing alleged phone-hacking victims.

A spokesman for News Corp, the parent company of News International, said: "James Murdoch is happy to appear in front of the committee again to answer any further questions members might have."

Earlier this month, former NoW legal manager Tom Crone told MPs he was "certain" he told Mr Murdoch about an email which indicated phone hacking at the paper went beyond one rogue reporter.

Mr Crone said "it was the reason that we had to settle" a case. Former editor Colin Myler also told the committee the email was discussed.

Mr Murdoch, however, has insisted he was not told about the email.

In July, he and his father - Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp - faced nearly three hours in front of the parliamentary committee, answering questions about what they had done to unravel the scandal at the News of the World.

At the High Court, Lord Justice Vos has been considering applications from a number of alleged phone-hacking victims to decide whose will be heard as test cases in the new year.

Earlier, he added that of Sheila Henry to a list including actor Jude Law, MP Chris Bryant, interior designer Kelly Hoppen, sports agent Sky Andrew and ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne.

Other developments to emerge from the High Court hearing include:

The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly hacked, have not issued proceedings

Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes issued proceedings against the NoW

New and significant information has been found at News International

Scotland Yard is currently investigating claims that reporters hacked into the messages of celebrities and public figures between 2005 and 2006.

[Douglas Caddy]

James Murdoch recalled by phone hack MPs

The Independent

By Gavin Cordon

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

James Murdoch is to face a fresh grilling by MPs investigating the News of the World phone hacking scandal, it was announced today.

Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairman John Whittingdale said Mr Murdoch, who gave evidence to the committee last July, was being recalled.

However, he said that the committee wanted to take evidence first from other witnesses, including former senior News Corp executive Les Hinton and Mark Lewis, the lawyer representing victims.

Mr Whittingdale told Sky News that his committee was "beginning to reach the end of its deliberations" but wanted to tie up "one or two loose ends" by recalling witnesses.

He said Mr Hinton would be asked about the period in which payments were made to News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who were jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on private voicemail messages.

And he said that the committee wanted to hear from Farrer's, the solicitors who advised News International on the six-figure payment made to settle the case of Professional Footballers Association chief executive Gordon Taylor, who took legal action over alleged phone-hacking.

Mr Whittingdale said: "As a final session, we will have some more questions based on what we have heard which we will want to put to James Murdoch."

The questions will focus on discrepancies between Mr Murdoch's evidence in July and the evidence given to the committee last week by former News of the World editor Colin Myler and ex-News International lawyer Tom Crone.

Mr Myler and Mr Crone insisted that they told Mr Murdoch in a 2008 meeting about the notorious "For Neville" email, which showed that phone-hacking was not confined to a single rogue reporter on the News of the World - something he has always denied.

"Clearly, there are different accounts which we have heard," said Mr Whittingdale. "We have spent some time questioning Tom Crone and Colin Myler last week about their version of what happened.

"We would want to put that to James Murdoch and hear more about how he recalls the meeting."

Asked whether the committee had any powers to force Mr Murdoch to appear if he refuses to do so voluntarily, Mr Whittingdale said: "I honestly don't think that will be necessary.

"My understanding has always been that he wants to co-operate with all the inquiries and he has said that on the record."

A News Corp spokesperson said: "James Murdoch is happy to appear in front of the committee again to answer any further questions members might have."

[Douglas Caddy]

Murdoch empire will still pay disgraced detective's damages

The Independent

By James Cusick and Cahal Milmo

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

News International has not cut its financial ties with Glenn Mulcaire despite the insistence by Rupert Murdoch's media empire that it would do so by no longer paying the legal fees of the disgraced private detective.

According to a previously protected High Court document obtained by The Independent, the company is still on course to pay any damages awarded against Mr Mulcaire in dozens of civil phone hacking claims.

Mr Murdoch's son James told Parliament in July that he was "surprised" to learn his company was still paying Mulcaire's legal bill and that the arrangement would be terminated with "immediate effect".

News International had previously refused to answer questions about who was paying Mr Mulcaire's lawyers bill. The private investigator lodged a lawsuit last month against the company, claiming that its decision to stop paying his legal fees, which had reached nearly £250,000, breached a long-standing contract.

The claim document, lodged in the Chancery Division of the High Court, details the close-knit legal relationship that existed between Mr Mulcaire's legal team and the Murdoch UK media company.

Until Mr Murdoch ended the legal fees deal, Mr Mulcaire was still co-operating with the News of the World's controlling company, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and had been giving them "access to confidential and privileged information to which it would not otherwise have had access", according to the claim. He was also allowing NGN to prescribe the ways in which he "conducted the telephone interception litigation", and to choose the barrister to represent him.

News International's agreement with Mr Mulcaire includes his appeal against a High Court ruling that directed him to answer a list of questions drawn up by hacking victims who are suing NOTW.

The court document lodged on 17 August by Mr Mulcaire's lawyer, Sarah Webb, states that NGN had no right to end the legal fees arrangement with her client because he had performed everything NGN had asked him to do. The document describes letters from NGN's solicitors to Mr Mulcaire denying that it had agreed to pay his legal costs.

The claim alleges that in a letter dated 11 August NGN said it would pay Mr Mulcaire's costs "up to the date that our client made its position clear". This refers to James Murdoch's promise to MPs on 20 July that NI would terminate the deal.

But it goes on to state that the letter "did not to purport to withdraw the indemnity in respect of damages" – meaning that a previously unacknowledged undertaking by News International to pay any cash settlements against Mr Mulcaire remains in place.

Dozens of civil damages claims have now been filed against the owners of the defunct Sunday tabloid, naming both NGN and Mr Mulcaire as co-defendants. New International has signalled its intention to settle claims wherever it feels they are justified and has already paid £100,000 to the actress Sienna Miller. Settlements have also been reached with the football pundit Andy Gray and the television actress Leslie Ash and her family.

News International has set aside a fund of at least £20m to settle the damages claims against it.

Mr Mulcaire was jailed for six months in 2007 after he admitted hacking into the voicemails of royal aides and celebrities including the supermodel Elle Macpherson and the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes. But he continues to be at the centre of the scandal as Scotland Yard detectives go through records seized from his home detailing further alleged voicemail interception.

He recently issued a public apology for the "hurt and upset" caused by his activities but said NOTW had placed him under "relentless pressure".

News International last night said it did not accept it had any indemnity to pay legal fees or damages for Mr Mulcaire. A spokeswoman said: “We have no agreement whatsoever with Glenn Mulcaire.”

A done deal?

* On 28 July, just after James Murdoch expressed surprise that News International was still paying Glenn Muclaire's legal bills, NI's solicitors wrote to the former News of the World private investigator ending the deal. Another letter dated 11 August denied that NI had agreed to pay Mr Mulcaire's legal costs and stated it was no longer picking up the bill. However, in the same 11 August letter the company said it would meet the costs of any legal bill incurred prior to Mr Murdoch's public termination. This could have been the point at which NI severed legal links with Mr Mulcaire. But it did not. Instead, there was no mention it would not pick up the potentially substantial bill for the damages Mr Mulcaire could face in phone-hacking civil actions as a co-defendant with News Group Newspapers.

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: 7/7 victim's mother to sue News of the World

The mother of a 7/7 bomb victim has become the latest person to take legal action against the News of the World in the phone hacking scandal, the High Court has heard.

Daily Telegraph

1:37PM BST 13 Sep 2011

By Mark Hughes, Crime Correspondent

1:37PM BST 13 Sep 2011

Sheila Henry, the mother of 26-year-old Christian Small who died in the blast at King’ Cross, has been put forward as a lead case in the civil litigation cases against the News of the World.

She joins Jude Law, the football agent Sky Andrew, interior designer Kelly Hoppen and MP Chris Bryant as the key cases against News International.

High Court judge, Mr Justice Vos, has previously asked for a cross section of alleged victims to be heard as lead cases so he can set damages and make it possible for other hacking cases to be settled without further court hearings.

Mr Small died in the Piccadilly line blast which killed 26 people. On the day of his death his family, worried by the fact they could not contact him, pinned up posters around London urging people to contact them with any sightings.

It is feared that Miss Henry then had her phone hacked by the now defunct Sunday newspaper. She also fears that her son’s phone was hacked.

[Douglas Caddy]

News Corp shareholders lodge complaint against Rupert Murdoch

Major US banks accuse Murdoch and News Corporation of corporate misconduct extending far beyond UK

Full text of shareholders' complaint

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/13/news-corporation-shareholders-complaint

By Ed Pilkington in New York

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 13 September 2011 16.37 BST

A prominent group of US banks and investment funds with substantial investments in News Corporation has issued a fresh legal complaint accusing the company of widespread corporate misconduct extending far beyond the phone-hacking excesses of News of the World.

The legal action, lodged in the Delaware courts, is led by Amalgamated Bank, a New York-based chartered bank that manages some $12bn on behalf of institutional investors and holds about 1 million shares of News Corporation common stock. Its lawsuit is aimed against the members of News Corp's board, including Rupert Murdoch himself, his sons James and Lachlan, and the media empire's chief operating officer, Chase Carey.

In the complaint, the shareholders accuse the board of allowing Murdoch to use News Corp as his "own personal fiefdom". In addition to the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World, the complaint focuses on the controversial business tactics of two News Corp subsidiaries in America, its advertising arm News America Marketing and a manufacturer of satellite TV smart cards called NDS Group Plc.

In legal documents, the shareholders allege that the two companies were accused by multiple parties of "stealing computer technology, hacking into business plans and computers and violating the law through a wide range of anti-competitive behaviour".

The complaint draws on several lawsuits and trial transcripts in which the News Corp subsidiaries were prosecuted by rival businesses for alleged misconduct. In the case of News America, the company reached settlements with three separate competitors amounting to $650m.

In one trial, involving an advertising company called Floorgraphics, evidence was presented to the jury that News America had broken into its rival's secure computer systems at least 11 times.

The chief executive of News America, Paul Carlucci, was also quoted as having told Floorgraphics: "If you ever get into any of our businesses, I will destroy you. I work for a man who wants it all, and doesn't understand anybody telling him he can't have it all."

The complaint says that as Carlucci and Murdoch talk regularly, "it is inconceivable that Murdoch would not have been aware about the illegal tactics being employed by NAM to thwart comptetition".

In the case of NDS, the shareholder complaint refers to lawsuits launched by rivals Vivendi and EchoStar, who accused the company, which News Corp acquired in 1992, of illegally extracting the code of its smart cards used to unscramble satellite TV signals and charge subscribers. In court documents, Amalgamated Bank says NDS posted the Vivendi code on the internet, allowing hackers to break into broadcasts for free and inflicting more than $1bn in damages on its competitor.

In a separate case, EchoStar accused NDS of illegally intercepting one of its satellite television broadcasts, and a court injunction was obtained preventing the News Corp subsidiary from "intercepting or receiving, anywhere in the US, EchoStar's satellite television signal without authorisation".

Jay Eisenhofer, a lawyer representing Amalgamated Bank and its other leading complainants, the New Orleans Employees' Retirement System and Central Laborers Pension Fund, said the details of the alleged misconduct at News America and NDS were significant as they suggested a wider culture of improper behaviour that went beyond the illegality at the now-defunct News of the World.

"These cases establish a pattern of misconduct that extends far beyond the UK subsidiary. It demonstrates a corporate culture that allows this sort of misconduct to take place over a very long period of time."

Eisenhofer pointed out that several members of the News America and NDS boards were also directors of News Corp.

The latest complaint from Amalgamated and its co-plaintiffs provides the most detailed and serious allegations yet against News Corp for alleged business improprieties carried out within the US. The company is already under investigation by the FBI, which is looking into suggestions that News of the World reporters tried to gain access to the phone records of 9/11 victims.

The justice department is also carrying out a wide-ranging inquiry in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal into News Corp's corporate behaviour to see whether any US laws were broken.

There was no immediate response from News Corp to the allegations

Edited September 13, 2011 by Douglas Caddy

[Douglas Caddy]

Phone hacking: News International finds 'large caches' of documents'

Many tens of thousands' of items discovered by News of the World publisher could contain evidence of phone hacking

By James Robinson

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 13 September 2011 14.55 BST

The publisher of the News of the World has found "many tens of thousands" of new documents and emails that could contain evidence about the scale of phone hacking at the paper, it has emerged.

Michael Silverleaf QC, the barrister for the News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers (NGN), told the high court at a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday: "Two very large new caches of documents have been [discovered] which the current management were unaware of."

NGN was ordered in the summer to search its internal email system for any evidence that mobile phones belonging to a list of public figures were targeted by the paper.

That search has not been completed, but some documents have already been retrieved, the high court heard. Referring to the emails that NGN has been searching through, Mr Justice Vos told the high court that "there is some important material in what has already been disclosed".

It also emerged on Tuesday that lawyers acting for phone-hacking claimants have received a 68-page document from police that lists the names of those who asked Glenn Mulcaire – the private investigator who worked for the paper – to engage in hacking, based on notes seized from his home during a raid in 2006.

Mulcaire had a habit of noting the names of people who asked him to target mobile phones in the left-hand corner of his notebooks, often using their initials or first name to denote their identity.

The document cannot be made public because Vos had previously ordered that they remain confidential so the police inquiry would not be compromised. The fact that the document compiled by Scotland Yard runs to 68 pages suggests it contains many names.

The high court judge also gave NGN more time to comply with the earlier order requiring the company to hand over potential evidence to phone-hacking litigants – now extended to 30 September.

NGN said last year that it had lost some emails from the period when Mulcaire was most active, but subsequently said they had been found.

However, the Commons home affairs select committee was told last week by HCL, which managed the IT systems of NGN's ultimate parent company, News Corp, that its client had asked HCL to delete hundreds of thousands of emails – on 13 occasions between April 2010 and July this year.

News also emerged on Tuesday that Mulcaire told one alleged phone-hacking victim, the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, that he cannot remember who at the paper ordered him to target the politician's phone.

Hughes launched legal action against the paper's publisher in August and won a high court order forcing Mulcaire to answer questions about who asked him to target his phone.

Although Mulcaire has now complied with that order, Hugh Tomlinson QC, one of the barristers acting for the phone-hacking victims, told the court today: "Mr Mulcaire has indicated in respect of every question raised that he has no recollection."

[Douglas Caddy]

Australia to investigate media after UK phone-hacking scandal

Inquiry could cover protections for privacy and the role of the print media's self-regulatory watchdog

Associated Press

guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 13 September 2011 09.28 BST

The Australian government has promised an inquiry into the country's media as politicians complain that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp owns too many newspapers.

Calls have been growing for an Australian inquiry into News Corp since the New York-based company closed the News of the World in July over phone-hacking allegations. News Corp owns 70% of Australia's newspapers.

The communications minister, Stephen Conroy, told colleagues in his ruling centre-left Labor party on Tuesday that there would be an inquiry into the Australian media. He said the terms of reference were under discussion with the Greens party that supports Labor's minority government.

But Conroy said the inquiry would not be "an attack on News Ltd", the Australian subsidiary of News Corp. He said the inquiry could cover areas including protections for privacy and the role of the print media's self-regulatory watchdog, Australian Press Council.

Conroy said the government disagreed with a motion to be proposed by the Greens leader, Bob Brown, in the Senate on Thursday. That motion would call on Conroy to "investigate the direct or indirect ramifications for Australia of the criminal matters affecting" News Corp's British subsidiary, News International.

There have been no allegations made in Australia of the type of phone hacking that has led to at least 16 arrests in Britain.

Labor politicians have long complained that News Ltd publications are biased towards Liberal party conservatives and that the company has too much control over Australian newspapers.

They blame the media for their party plumbing record lows in opinion polls four years after Labor first came to government.

The Liberal leader, Tony Abbott, dismissed the need for a media inquiry, saying there was no evidence of any new problems in the industry. "This looks like a naked attempt to intimidate the media," Abbott said.

The prime minister, Julia Gillard, has had an increasingly testy relationship with News Ltd publications and its executives. The Australian newspaper withdrew an opinion piece from its website and published an apology last month after Gillard threatened to sue over an incorrect claim that she had once shared a house with a corrupt union official that had been paid for with embezzled union money.

Gillard attacked the News Ltd broadsheet, saying no one had contacted her for comment before publishing "a false report in breach of all known standards of journalism". "This is a question of ethics and standards for the Australian," she said.

John Hartigan, chairman and chief executive of News Ltd, described Gillard's comments as "pedantic" and "disappointing", and said it was accepted practice not to seek comment for opinion pieces.