I Take No Joy In This

[Limey]

Not unsurprisingly, James Murdoch has been recalled by the parliamentary committee to answer further questions.  And by "further questions", they mean "the same questions", but this time he may well have to tell the truth.

To recap: he said he didn't know the background as to why he had to write a $1mm check to settle a lawsuit - he just knew it was to settle a lawsuit.  Immediately after he said this, others involved in the decision produced documents showing that Murdoch knew exactly why he had to settle for a million bucks - because the lawsuit proved that people other than the "one rogue reporter" had been caught hacking phones, and if that got out he and his newspaper were toast*.


* Which is what has happened anyway: Murdoch Jr. is now toxic and almost certainly will never hold the top job at NewsCorp, and the NotW is gone.

[Limey]

Meanwhile, lawyers for Milly Dowler and 20 9/11 families who claim to have been hacked by the NotW, are investigating the possibilities of bringing a class action suit against the Murdochs and NewsCorp in the U.S.  That opens up a whole new hill of beans, including under-oath depositions of the Murdochs:

Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton has instructed Norman Siegel, a New York-based lawyer who represents 20 9/11 families to seek witness statements from News Corp and directors including the Murdochs in relation to allegations that News of the World staff may have bribed police.

He says he intends to assess whether he can launch a class action against News Corp using American foreign corruption laws, which make it illegal for US companies to pay bribes to government officials abroad.

"There is a provision within US law, before you start an action to seek depositions from individuals, in this case, such as James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch and other directors of News Corp," said Lewis.

[Limey]

Murdochs hit with a blizzard of new claims, including one on behalf of a young girl who survived being assaulted with a hammer while he mother and sister did not.

I doubt that there is a jury in the world who wouldn't throw the book at the Murdochs on principle at this point.

Also, Rupes is about to kill The Simpsons.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

Also, Rupes is about to kill The Simpsons.

He needs to the money to pay for his defense lawyers....

[Limey]

New evidence shows that NotW's surveillance was on an "industrial scale", and continued right up until the paper was shut down earlier this year.  Also, the number of phone hacking victims has climbed to 5,800.

[Limey]

The saga continues...and gets worse for Rupes.  A new round of arrests at the The Sun - the daily big brother publication of the closed NotW - has opened up a giant can of worms.  The Sun has previously tried to spin the investigation of it as only being related to police corruption and not the abhorrent practice of phone hacking.

True.  On the Richter Scale of shitty things, bribing police to get information is a couple of points below hacking into someone's voicemail directly.  There is one big difference between the two, though.  Hacking is not a violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...bribing cops is.

There's now real talk that The Sun will be shuttered just like its little brother (an act which put a huge dent in NewsCorp's earnings).  Closing NotW acted as somewhat of a firewall for the Murdochs, but closing The Sun would be a minor speed bump to the U.S. Govt pursuing an FCPA investigation.  It would also take a much larger toll on NewsCorp's finances, maybe put Murdoch Jr. out of a job, leave Rupes exposed to further shareholder backlash and do nothing to head off an FCPA charge.

[PeteM]

And now James Murdoch resigns.  
James Murdoch has stepped down as chairman of News International, the publisher of the Sun and Times, in an internal News Corporation reshuffle.
Wednesday's move sees him give up responsibility for News Corp's crisis-hit British newspaper operation as he completes his relocation to New York.

[Limey]

And now James Murdoch resigns.  
James Murdoch has stepped down as chairman of News International, the publisher of the Sun and Times, in an internal News Corporation reshuffle.
Wednesday's move sees him give up responsibility for News Corp's crisis-hit British newspaper operation as he completes his relocation to New York.

Reportedly, he's been looking for a way off the newspaper fleet ever since it started to get dashed on the rocks of scandal.  No word yet whether his new job will be as a Captain on an Italian cruise ship.

Judging by what I saw of the hearings, the guy is a corporate douche whose protective coating of double-speak and bad recollection melted very quickly when exposed to the light.  He's the guy who truly hit Rupes in the face with a cream pie.  He got paid to take responsibility, but I somehow get the feeling that he's going to slither out of taking it.

[Limey]

A tweet from the UK's fabulous satirical show "Have I Got News for You":

It's reported that victims of phone-hacking may include Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, just as victims of 9/11 may include Mohammad Atta.

[PeteM]

Well.  Moving right up the ladder with the arrests...

Rebekah Brooks is among six people arrested by Scotland Yard detectives on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, as part of the investigation into phone hacking.
The Guardian

[Limey]

Well.  Moving right up the ladder with the arrests...

Rebekah Brooks is among six people arrested by Scotland Yard detectives on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, as part of the investigation into phone hacking.
The Guardian

Rampant police bribery at The Sun is putting NewsCorp on the Fed's radar as it's a violation of the FCPA.  They've been quite aggressive in their prosecution of such violations in recent times...

[Limey]

...and James "Toxic" Murdoch is now gone from his job as Chairman of BSkyB.  His fall from grace is complete.

With Brooks in the hot seat and James gone from the organisation completely, there's now a direct route to Rupert.  This is going to end badly.

[austro]

This is going to end badly.

I think that depends on one's point of view. Personally, I think it is going to end deliciously, and I eagerly await the denouement.

[Limey]

I think that depends on one's point of view. Personally, I think it is going to end deliciously, and I eagerly await the denouement.

JM's resignation comes 3 days before his latest tapdancing recital in front of the Levinson committee, and within a few days of the expected release of parliament's report into phone hacking - for which he was grilled twice.

Is this just a coincidence, or is there a lot of bad news about to come out?  Given who he is, I'm thinking he's only quitting because of the latter.

And I agree on your take on how the ending will be.  A happy one, I think.

[Limey]

And now the NewsCorp owned Sky News channel (think Euro-friendly version of Fox News) has admitted to email hacking.  The original Murdoch defense of hacking being limited to one investigator on one newspaper gets more and more laughable with each passing revelation.

[D.H.]

Murdoch actually paid gangsters to pirate the set top box access cards of his competitors so those competitors would lose so much revenue to the piracy they would sell out to Murdoch at fire sale prices. Seriously- I can't make this stuff up. The mouthpiece of the Republican Party is a criminal thru and thru.

[jbm]

But he only did it to further the public's interest.  Always thinking of others. 

[OregonStrosFan]

The mouthpiece of the Republican Party is a criminal thru and thru.

You're calling Limey a criminal?!? Shame on you!

[D.H.]

But he only did it to further the public's interest.  Always thinking of others. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNiAOSKFNR4

[Limey]

But he only did it to further the public's interest.  Always thinking of others.  

Stephen Fry and Hugh "House" Laurie sum it up.