News Corp

News Corp. Hires Hacker to Break Into Dish Satellite Network, Steal Security Codes for Pirate Cards

This is classic corporate espionage/sabotage at its finest. Dish Network is accusing News Corp.—which used to have a 39 percent stake in DirecTV and still provides its security tech—of hiring hacker Christopher Tarnovsky to break into Dish's network, steal the security codes, and use them to make pirated cards to flood the black market. It sounds insane, but Tarnovsky admitted in court he was paid James Bond villain style, with $20,000 cash payments mailed from Canada hidden inside "electronic devices." More »

6:30 PM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By matt buchanan
9,104 views, 14 comments

Latest by kclofter: @CFStang: Brilliant! more »

home entertainment

News Corp Set-Top Box Becomes DVR: Just Add External Hard Drive

How much simpler can it get? You take the HD satellite set-top box already sitting in someone's living room, perform a quick firmware update, plug an external hard drive into the USB jack and voila, it's a bleedin' DVR. Voila is right, though, since this News Corp-owned software fix is currently only available to Canal+ satellite customers in France. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no such thing for News Corp's DirecTV customers in the US, right? Nah, letting people keep their existing hardware is so un-American. It's bad for business, I tells ya! Press release after jump. More »

4:55 PM on Tue Feb 26 2008
By Wilson Rothman
2,812 views, 5 comments

Latest by chebyrashka: @Wilson Rothman: Ah I see.. sorry.. Dish Network is coming out with the same concept soon also from what I read from their last show. Overall it's awesome. more »

save us

Viacom, Disney, Microsoft and Others Form Justice League of Copyright

A smorgasborg of media companies—Viacom, Disney, News Corp., NBC Universal, CBS, and others, including Microsoft—have formed a coalition laying out guidelines for protecting copyrights online. Their "principles" include using technology to wipe out copyright no-no content generated by users, as well as shutting it out before it hits the public intertubes. You'll notice GooTube isn't part of the list—they're not of the pre-emptive blockage philosophy, as of yet. However, some analysts think Google will have to play ball if their guidelines do become an actual standard. More »

6:30 PM on Thu Oct 18 2007
By Matt Buchanan
1,841 views, 9 comments

Latest by axiomatic: "Viacom, Disney, Microsoft and Others Form Justice League of poorly implemented DRM schemes." OK Giz, I fixed the headline. You can repost it now. more »

video wars

News Corp. President Confirms No iTunes Breakup for Them

Looks like a massive walkout on iTunes by the networks isn't happening: News Corp. President Peter Chernin has stated that they will not pull their content from the store. News Corp. seemed to be the most likely to follow NBC's defection if anyone, given their own reported unhappiness with iTunes' pricing and 50/50 split ownership of Hulu with NBC. Since ABC's not going anywhere (courtesy Disney incest), the only other major network power that could walk is Viacom (CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, etc.), and they're probably staying put too. Do you feel cold and alone, NBC? [Reuters]

10:05 AM on Tue Sep 11 2007
By Matt Buchanan
1,071 views, 9 comments

Latest by rawhead: @St3v3: Yeah, viva NBC, indeed. Because what they did is SO beneficial to you, the customer. more »

software

"Mad Dog" Murdoch to Teach a Generation How To Read The News

Tickled with the fact that there are over 100 million users of his MySpace networking site, but irked that members of the Ritalin generation only spend like two seconds on their pages each day, Rupert Murdoch (or at least, his company News Corp.) is planning to launch MySpace News. More »

10:11 AM on Thu Apr 19 2007
By Wilson Rothman
4,173 views, 12 comments