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News Corp hired hacker to pirate DISH Network access cards
DISH Network and News Corp's satellite subsidiary NDS Group in California have been involved in an industrial espionage lawsuit for years now, but there was some big drama in court today: a hacker by the name of Christopher Tarnovsky (who used the handle "Big Gun," among others) testified that NDS hired him to create a device called "the stinger" that could reprogram DISH Network access cards. DISH lawyers say the plan was to flood the market with hacked cards, which would cost the satellite company $900M in revenue and repair costs. Unsurprisingly, NDS (which supplies DirecTV, among others), says that it hired Tarovsky only to reverse-engineer DISH's cards for competitive reasons, and Tarnovsky himself says that he believes "someone is trying to set him up." Sure, sure -- but no one's explaining why he was mailed mobile electronics from Canada with $20K in cash stashed inside, or why he was officially on the payroll of HarperCollins, a totally different NewCorp subsidiary, for more than 10 years. Sketchy sketchy -- and we thought satellite hacking was dead.Read - Reuters article about Tarnovsky's testimonyRead - 2002 article about Tarnovsky and NDS
Yahoo and AOL suddenly close to merging?
Yahoo's done its best to fend off Microsoft's aggressive advances until now, but it suddenly looks like the struggling company might be getting some help -- both the Wall Street Journal and Reuters are reporting that the Yahoo is "closing in" on a deal to merge with Time Warner's AOL division and partner up with Google on search advertising. Yeah, that's pretty major, and it would probably do something about those declining shares Microsoft's been making noise about. The idea is for Time Warner to sell AOL to Yahoo and make a large investment in the new company, which would probably be valued at around $10B. There's apparently a lot of work left to do on the deal, and it would still have to be approved by Yahoo and Time Warner shareholders, but it looks like Yahoo is no longer stuck taking Ballmer and Co. to the dance.[Disclosure: Look up to the right. See that? Yeah, Engadget is owned by AOL -- but trust us, we have no idea what's going on.]Read - WSJ articleRead - Reuters article
Other companies and Apple's iTunes price war
NBC has gotten all the press in their big fight with Apple, but a few other companies are currently considering their options about what to do with iTunes pricing.News Corp is apparently ready to draw a line in the sand. Their COO Peter Chernin says "negotiations will be prickly and dicey and contentious, like all negotiation are and like all negotiations should be." Interesting point of view there. He earlier promised that they wouldn't be pulling content from iTunes like NBC is (or at least says they are-- the content is still there for now, but on the way out soon), but says that they should be the ones determining prices for their products, not Apple. Which is true-- unless Apple believes otherwise. If Apple offers you $1 per song or nothing, Chernin, which one are you going to take?And CBS, on the other hand, is asking everyone to just chill, OK? CEO Les Moonves is the only one that actually sounds like he knows what's going on at the iTunes store: "We look at iTunes as much as a promotional vehicle for our shows as a financial vehicle." That's exactly how everyone should see it-- we can watch these shows for free (with advertising) on television, or pay a nominal fee to watch them later on iTunes.This doesn't help with NBC of course-- they're going to do what they want (including go to Amazon) no matter what CBS says. They are competitors, after all, but whether NBC pulls out or not, the Store isn't going anywhere-- there are lots of content providers still interested in it.[via MacBytes]
Fox: We'll keep our content in iTunes
Following NBC's split with Apple, NewsCorp (Fox's parent) has announced their intention to keep top shows like 24 and Prison Break in the iTunes Store. According to president Peter Chernin, his company's relationship with Apple is just peachy:"Right now we have a perfectly good relationship with Apple."But don't get a warm fuzzy in your heart just yet. While things are good, they could be better. Cherin adds that NewsCorp wants more control over the cost of their content - an opinion other media outlets share, most notably NBC.Most of my friends offer the media giants the same response: "If I don't get it from iTunes, I'll get it somewhere else," with "somewhere else" meaning "torrent." [Via AppleInsider]
Liberty Media exchanges shares of News Corp. for DirecTV
While DirecTV tends to garner a lot of negative attention, all the fuss apparently doesn't bother Liberty Media's CEO John Malone, as the firm has recently signed a deal to swap its 16.3-percent stake in News Corp. for "shares of DirecTV, three regional sports networks and $550 million in cash." Liberty, who already controls several other TV networks such as Starz, is hoping to jump back to the forefront of television by assuming News Corp.'s three seats on DirecTV's board of directors. Interestingly, Malone stated that the new investment would "create financial, operating, and strategic flexibility," which could eventually freshen up the previously stale merger talks between DirecTV and Echostar -- but considering Liberty Media still won't have a controlling stake in the company, we're not holding our collective breath.
News Corporation shells out $188M for piece of Jamba
Apparently, we're in the wrong business. Media powerhouse News Corporation has agreed to purchase a controlling interest in ringtone guru Jamba for $188 -- yes, $188 million from current owner VeriSign. The resulting joint venture will be folded into News' Fox Mobile Entertainment group, creating a terrifyingly large mobile media behemoth from whose gravity no one will be able to escape. Alright, maybe that's a little alarmist, but it does seem plausible that some extraordinarily high percentage of all ringtones purchased in the future across the globe will ultimately come from Jamba (or its American subsidiary, Jamster). If there's one positive note to come out of this monopol... er, agreement, it's that Jamba will soon be offering The Simpsons Mobile, a themed store offering wallpaper, ringtones, screensavers, and video from the popular show. Now if we can only hook ourselves up without getting duped by a free ringtone scheme, we'll be good to go.[Via MobileTracker]
News Corp thinks you'll pay $30 per flick for on demand HD
That was the gist of a presentation by News Corp president Peter Chernin Tuesday. He said that consumers with high priced home theater systems would be "desperate consumers" of such offerings. Apparently his plan calls for "rental" releases via cable and satellite 60 days after they hit theaters. They think this could create new market for "home premieres" between the theatrical release and typical DVD windows. So wait, you want me to see the movie in the theater, download it, then buy it on DVD? So instead of producing better movies that people want to come out and see, the movie industry just plans on consumers being willing to pay to see the same movie overandoverandover.....sounds like TNT's weekend lineup. This plan seems really bad, Philip Swann at TV Predictions doesn't sound too enthused and neither does Henning at HDBlog. Are we all missing the point and there is actually a huge market for this or do you think it will crash and burn?[Via digg]
Murdoch not quite ready to jump on the iTunes bandwagon
Have you ever watched The Office? Me neither -- not until it showed up on iTunes, I mean. I tried watching it once on TV, but the Siren-like seductiveness of my beautifully-curved TiVo remote took hold of my consciousness, prompting me to change the channel to something a little more...I don't know, entertaining. I don't even remember the episode I was watching. All I can recall thinking was the typical "I don't get it" -- I joined the show five minutes in, and three minutes later there was a commercial break, leaving me grasping for anything that may hint at the purpose of this slow-starting, 100%-dialogue-dependent comedy.I never bothered watching again...that is, until my brother downloaded an episode from iTunes, nearly relapsed to his old habit of bed-wetting because of laughter (joke!), and forced me to sit down and share with the him the joy of a formerly-British sitcom starring the guy who romanticized the notion of a 40-year-old man living alone with a video game chair and wall-to-wall action figures. The flexibility of watching this show When I Wanted, Where I Wanted developed in me a newfound appreciation for its Genius -- something I can honestly say would never have happened if it was limited to the confines of TV schedule. And, as we've seen, I'm not the only one learning about this comedy-fest via iTunes -- it's gotten so popular because of online downloads, NBC bumped the once-faltering show to a primetime Thursday slot.Which makes you think things are Going Well -- until, of course, a media exec slaps you in face, chastising you for foolishly believing that content companies are starting to "get it." This time, it's News Corp's holy founder, Rupert Murdoch, who says iTunes and its video distribution deals are "very small-time at the moment," citing the iPod's small display as a reason people may not want to shell out $2 an episode for something they could see for free on TV.You'd think he'd look at successes like The Office and put the whole concept into perspective: FOX has little to lose by putting its shows on iTunes, and a heckuva lot to gain: revenue, ratings, interest, etc. A Fox/iTunes distribution deal could be huge for both News Corp and Apple -- and the only thing holding it back is Murdoch's RIAA-styled fear of the future (that, or he's got his own scheme in the works, which I certainly wouldn't put past him).Whatever. I just want my Family Guy.[via CNet]