Paedogeddon on the British Paedoisles - Paed Heath

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Paedogeddon on the British Paedoisles - Paed Heath

Quote-Unquote: Oct 22, 2002

Brown Moses posted:

Well the police who were sentenced after pleading guilty still got pretty stiff sentences, so it would be notable if the papers didn't get the same level of punishment.

I love your optimism, BM, but the police who were sentenced aren't super-wealthy and/or best buds with the PM. Nothing will happen to Brooks & co

# ? Jun 5, 2013 09:21

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# ? Apr 26, 2024 23:58

Byolante: Mar 23, 2008; by Cyrano4747

Quote-Unquote posted:

I love your optimism, BM, but the police who were sentenced aren't super-wealthy and/or best buds with the PM. Nothing will happen to Brooks & co

I would have thought DC would do everything in his power to divest himself of Newscorp and the Brooks at this point, otherwise its a tailor made attack ad by Labor of 'Would you vote for a man who helped hack a dead girl's mobile?'

# ? Jun 5, 2013 09:30

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Problem is, this is increasingly starting to spread to the US, and as demonstrated with the NDS stuff, more poo poo keeps coming up. There's only so much stuff you can keep a lid on, even if you are the Prime Minister.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 09:56

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Andy Hughes is tweeting from court

quote:

12 defendants in the dock due to plead to #hacking charges including former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks
In court there's 29 barristers, 37 solicitors, 13 defendants, one MP and around 30 press. And one judge. #hacking

# ? Jun 5, 2013 10:13

prefect: Sep 11, 2001; No one, Woodhouse.
No one.; Dead Man’s Band

Brown Moses posted:

Problem is, this is increasingly starting to spread to the US, and as demonstrated with the NDS stuff, more poo poo keeps coming up. There's only so much stuff you can keep a lid on, even if you are the Prime Minister.

It's the same story everywhere; the rich people will get a slap on the wrist at most. Some commoners may get actual punishment to make it look like justice is being served. :smith:

# ? Jun 5, 2013 10:27

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

It's likely to be a long day today, each charge will be read out individually, then each person will plea, and then there will be argument about the sentencing if they plead guilty.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 10:46

Jut: May 16, 2005; by Ralp

They will get a couple of years suspended sentences if anything. Can't have the elite in jail, not when they have kids to adopt.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 10:56

Loonytoad Quack: Aug 24, 2004; High on Shatner's Bassoon

Jut posted:

They will get a couple of years suspended sentences if anything. Can't have the elite in jail, not when they have kids to adopt.

You lot were saying the same things about Huhne and Pryce and they both did a(n admittedly not very long) stretch. I'm confident that Coulson and Brooks will see the inside of a cell before their multiple trials are over.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 11:14

Andy Impey: Sep 2, 2011

Bizarre nugget of information of the day: Andy Coulson is not there because he's at a job interview.

Who? Why?!

# ? Jun 5, 2013 11:25

Loonytoad Quack: Aug 24, 2004; High on Shatner's Bassoon

Brooks has pled not guilty to all charges. Full trial ahoy!

# ? Jun 5, 2013 11:42

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Everyone has plead not guilty, so full trials, the lot. Hopefully there won't be loads of reporting restrictions.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 11:44

Plasmafountain: Jun 17, 2008

Brown Moses posted:

Everyone has plead not guilty, so full trials, the lot. Hopefully there won't be loads of reporting restrictions.

I wonder what their game plan is since the deck seems so stacked against them.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 11:53

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

Loonytoad Quack posted:

It would be an absolute travesty of justice if we sent down everyone except the people whose complete untouchability caused this issue in the first place. If they don't go down it is setting it up for this whole thing happening again in another decade and I for one would be loving livid.

We just had (and are still going landing the plane through it's crash) a global financial crises that caused uncountable suffering, pain and loss. No one in a position of power or money has been held accountable.

The whole thing WILL happen again, though it might be sooner than a decade with the rise of everything being online now - much easier potentially to hack.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 12:44

Jut: May 16, 2005; by Ralp

Zero Gravitas posted:

I wonder what their game plan is since the deck seems so stacked against them.

Drag it out as long as possible and hope it goes away. Its been what? 2 years just to get this far.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 12:55

HUGE PUBES A PLUS: Apr 30, 2005

Brown Moses posted:

Remember NDS UK Limited from WAY back? Briefly, they were a company who provided the decoder cards for Sky, and were part of News Corp. They set up a website for hackers for intelligence gathering purposes, but then started doing some very naughty things with the information, but nothing really came of it, that is, until now it seems. The annoyingly pay-walled Exaro news is reporting that the Met is now looking into their activities.

Also, after two days of major appearances by every News Corp defendants team at Southwark court discussing various details of the case with the judge, Rebekah Brooks is reported to be planning to plead tomorrow. Legally I can't speculate on what they were discussing.

I was just thinking about this recently and recalled the ICQ messages we sifted through. I wondered if this would ever come back up or was buried by lawyers forever.

# ? Jun 5, 2013 13:00

Sex Vicar: Oct 11, 2007; I thought this was a swingers party...

Just saw on Sky News that Andy Coulson's pleaded "Not Guilty" to all charges as well. Full trial fun for everyone.

# ? Jun 6, 2013 10:43

The Supreme Court: Feb 25, 2010; Pirate World: Nearly done!

That must have been a great job interview.

"So, where do you see yourself in five years?"
"I'm aiming for one of those luxury prisons, like they have in Sweden"

# ? Jun 6, 2013 10:53

marktheando: Nov 4, 2006

Do they let normal people delay appearing at their own trial for a job interview or is that just a perk for those who used to work for Murdoch and/or Downing Street?

# ? Jun 6, 2013 19:19

ultrabindu: Jan 28, 2009

marktheando posted:

Do they let normal people delay appearing at their own trial for a job interview or is that just a perk for those who used to work for Murdoch and/or Downing Street?

Depending on the charges I don't believe you have to be there in person to enter a plea, which was what this court session was for. You can have you lawyer enter the plea on your behalf.

# ? Jun 7, 2013 09:15

thehustler: Apr 17, 2004; I am very curious about this little crescendo

Everyone's trials will be heard in September

# ? Jun 7, 2013 14:01

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Looks like they'll last 3 months. 3 months of David Cameron's friends being described as terrible people in court, the press will lap it up, assuming there's not reporting restrictions.

# ? Jun 7, 2013 14:15

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

My regular blog contributor has put together this piece on the new judge dealing with the Hackgate cases, All Rise - Justice Saunders At Southwark.

# ? Jun 7, 2013 16:06

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

quote:

Met looks into claims ex-News Corp subsidiary aided attack on pay-TV rival

The Metropolitan police is looking into allegations that a former News Corporation subsidiary was involved in helping computer hackers undermine BSkyB's ill-fated pay-TV rival ITV Digital.

It has emerged that in March the Met received an allegation of a "copyright offence" relating to the alleged activity of encryption technology business NDS around the year 2000, when it was owned by News Corp, and is assessing whether to launch a full investigation.

"[I] can confirm that following a screening of Panorama in March 2012, a copyright offence has been alleged to the Metropolitan Police Service," said a spokeswoman for Scotland Yard. "The allegation was reported to police in March this year and relates to an alleged offence circa 2000."

The Met spokeswoman said that the allegation has not at this stage been escalated to the level of a full investigation, but that any information-gathering process to evaluate to merits has been started. "The matter is currently subject to assessment," said the spokeswoman.

The allegation stems from a BBC Panorama report broadcast in March last year that linked NDS to the pirating of conditional access cards for ONdigital, giving viewers free access to channels operated by the Carlton and Granada-owned pay-TV rival to BSkyB, in which News Corp has a 39.1% stake. ONdigital, rebranded ITV Digital, collapsed in 2002.

Panorama's claims were based on allegedly incriminating emails and interviews with two people apparently involved, a German hacker who said he cracked the ONdigital codes and the operator of a piracy website who said he distributed the codes to other pirates to manufacture counterfeit conditional access cards. Both alleged that they were recruited on NDS's behalf by Ray Adams, its then head of UK security.

Chase Carey, News Corp's chief operating officer and Murdoch's right-hand man, criticised the Panorama report last year saying the BBC had "presented manipulated and mischaracterised emails to produce unfair and base˚less accusations".

Abe Peled, the chairman of NDS, accused Panorama of having "seriously misconstrued legitimate activities" the company undertakes in running its encryption business.

He said the programme was in "flagrant disregard [of] the BBC's broadcasting code, misleading viewers and inciting widespread misreporting".

NDS, based in Staines, near Heathrow, plays a key role in Murdoch's global media empire. It provides the encryption technology that enables BSkyB and News Corp's other pay-TV businesses around the world to issue subscribers with set-top boxes and conditional access cards that allow them to watch channels they have paid for.

In March 2012, before the Panorama about NDS was broadcast, it was announced that the business would be sold to Cisco for $5bn (�3.2bn) by its joint owners, News Corp and private equity firm Permira. NDS also works with other companies and now supplies encryption software to a third of the world's pay-TV operators.

News Corp and NDS had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

# ? Jun 7, 2013 16:22

EBT: Oct 29, 2005; by Ralp

Zero Gravitas posted:

I wonder what their game plan is since the deck seems so stacked against them.

Pollute the well of potential jurors so hard the actual trial is pointless.

# ? Jun 7, 2013 16:36

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Interesting news from the US:

quote:

Murdoch's News Corp mulls FCPA deal with US Justice Department

In private conversations, executives at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp are acknowledging ongoing discussions with the US Justice Department about a possible settlement of alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that took place in Britain. Speculation by one knowledgeable News Corp source puts the size of the settlement as high as $850m; other sources say that it could go as high as billions.

A gallows humor has recently infected News Corp insiders and observers, who have taken to greeting each other with the question, "What's the number?"

The primary charges involve the activities of News Corp's newspapers in London � principally, the Sun and the defunct News of the World � and allegations of bribes paid to the London police for information, which emerged during investigations begun two summers ago into phone-hacking. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits US companies from making undisclosed payments to government officials in foreign countries in order to gain favorable treatment.

From the company's point of view, the most favorable timetable for a settlement will occur after 28 June, when News Corp will be split into two distinct entities, a smaller newspaper-focused group, which will retain the name News Corp, and a much larger group, which will retain all of the present company's entertainment assets, to be called 21st Century Fox. But the company would also prefer that a settlement come before the September trial date of several of its once high-ranking executives, including its former chief Rebekah Brooks, the executive who is allegedly tied to the police payments.

The two new Murdoch-controlled companies have each agreed to absorb a portion of the liabilities involved with both the UK hacking and US FCPA prosecutions. The newspaper-focused group will bear the costs of criminal liabilities, such as an FCPA settlement, while the entertainment-focused group will take the civil costs, such as settlements with individual plaintiffs in the United Kingdom and shareholder suits.

In the split, the publishing company will receive, along with the newspapers and other assets, a surprisingly large $2.6bn cash grant. This has been portrayed as an acquisition fund � but it is, as well, a means of paying for the FCPA settlement. Although the Murdoch-controlled companies technically share a joint liability, 21st Century Fox executives prefer the perception that the settlement is with News Corp, the new newspaper company.

As for the Brooks' prosecution, the expectation is that the trial � which will also include former News of the World editor Andy Coulson (subsequently Prime Minister David Cameron's communication director) � will result in a further round of publicity about News Corp's culture and renewed public furor toward the company. Potentially, this might make a settlement in the US more difficult.

Brooks herself is still being paid by the company (it is not clear which of the companies will continue those payments), and continues to socialize with the Murdochs � in April, she was with Murdoch's oldest son Lachlan in Australia. But the company is said to be wary of potential further revelations about her relationship with government officials that might emerge at the trial.

Some observers wonder if there might not be a carrot in the negotiations � a way for the government to reach a rich settlement with the Murdoch companies, but at the same time not provide ammunition for challenges to its FCC licenses in the US. This might involve an agreement to settle without an admission of guilt.

Equally, the US government is likely using its very big stick, threatening to prosecute News Corp � and thus, also, 21st Century Fox, the surviving company with the majority of the assets. That might have untold effects on the latter's share price, acquisition efforts, television licenses, and the size of the ultimate penalty.

One aspect of the split of the company is an effort to portray the 21st Century Fox entity as a clean company, one without the taint of the Murdoch newspapers. But the unifying factors of the two companies, each controlled by the Murdoch family � with Rupert Murdoch remaining chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox and chairman of the new News Corp � means that it will be difficult, both legally and as a matter of public perception, for the companies to escape the stain of what could be the biggest FCPA settlement in history.

Murdoch himself has been telling intimates for many months of his worry about the Justice Department's beefed-up FCPA staffing and its aggressive efforts to bring ever-more cases. In recent weeks, faced with revelations of a secret Justice Department investigation of Fox reporter James Rosen on charges of receiving a leak, the company has seemed to go out of its way to accommodate the DOJ, rather than fight it.

Although it transpired that the Justice Department may not have properly notified the company of the investigation, News Corp seemed to be at pains to downplay the issue. While acknowledging that such a notice would surely have raised alarm bells, the company nevertheless suggested that it might have been overlooked.

The greater fear, beyond even regulatory FCC issues in the US, is the effect that the settlement might have in London, where the enmity toward Murdoch and his family is much greater than in the US. While the new company will own the company's British papers � the Times and the Sunday Times, and the Sun � it will be 21st Century Fox that will own the company's 39% controlling interest in BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster that is one of the company's most profitable assets.

The scandal has already derailed News Corp's plan to buy the rest of BSkyB. Now, the fear is that possible violations of the FCPA (if admission is made of bribing UK police) could undermine the company's "fit and proper" status, and, hence, its license in the UK to operate BSkyB.

The thrust of much of the company's activities over the last year has been to portray itself as having gotten beyond the UK scandals. Most recently, this resulted in a cover story in Business Week entitled "The Escape Artist", about how well Murdoch had sidestepped the train wreck that had seemed to be heading toward him.

In fact, Murdoch and his companies are still steeling themselves for the potential impact of both the fall trial at the Old Bailey in London and the outcome of the Justice Department's ever-advancing FCPA game in US.

# ? Jun 10, 2013 21:48

prefect: Sep 11, 2001; No one, Woodhouse.
No one.; Dead Man’s Band

What the gently caress? A cash settlement?

Nobody goes to jail if they're rich. :smith:

# ? Jun 10, 2013 23:16

AreWeDrunkYet: Jul 8, 2006

Of course not. If tanking the world economy through outright fraud or laundering billions of drug money isn't going to put any executives behind bars, what makes you think they would do anything other than look for a corporate settlement that acknowledges no personal responsibility for some mere bribery?

# ? Jun 11, 2013 01:22

AtomikKrab: Jul 17, 2010; Keep on GOP rolling rolling rolling rolling.

prefect posted:

What the gently caress? A cash settlement?

Nobody goes to jail if they're rich.

Murdoch wants to settle, the people directly on this matter in the justice department want his rear end on a silver platter so they can make their careers, the question is what do the higher ups in the justice department want?

Cause if the higher ups want Murdochs head as well he is doomed.

# ? Jun 11, 2013 02:17

ultrabindu: Jan 28, 2009

I wish I was rich enough to pay away any crimes I commit.

# ? Jun 11, 2013 09:40

woke wedding drone: Jun 1, 2003; by exmarx; Fun Shoe

Think of what the right wing would do if DOJ tried to put Murdoch in prison. Now think of Obama thinking of that.

Yeah.

# ? Jun 11, 2013 09:59

max4me: Jun 15, 2003; by FactsAreUseless

Depends if you think New International is helping the right wing. I think all the sensationalism trash hurts them. Long ago they handed messaging control over to pundits and talking heads whose goals and interests are not that of the party imagine but of their own ratings.

The Gop can not reform as long as they have fox news as their mouth piece. Taking down News Internationals powers and breaking them, would finaly give them a chance to control their message, and re-tune it so they can win elections. Maybe even have a purge where the crazy base doesnt dictate poo poo anymore

But most likely money talks, and they will pay a fine with out admitting guilt

# ? Jun 11, 2013 12:14

FAUXTON: Jun 2, 2005; spero che tu stia bene

max4me posted:

Depends if you think New International is helping the right wing. I think all the sensationalism trash hurts them. Long ago they handed messaging control over to pundits and talking heads whose goals and interests are not that of the party imagine but of their own ratings.

The Gop can not reform as long as they have fox news as their mouth piece. Taking down News Internationals powers and breaking them, would finaly give them a chance to control their message, and re-tune it so they can win elections. Maybe even have a purge where the crazy base doesnt dictate poo poo anymore

But most likely money talks, and they will pay a fine with out admitting guilt

That's a thin rope to walk, though. Fox can still push narratives, it can still drum up enthusiasm over anything or nothing. They may operate only for the crazy fringe right the GOP inhabits at this point, but they're better gone than not as they still get out to the public as an undisclosed PR wing of the GOP and serve to bridge the gap between the less-fringe-right public (who really stop wanting to vote when their candidate says something rape victims had it coming) and the GOP orthodoxy message (they really had it coming, don't let those socialists get away with voting our guy out just for telling the truth) with a dose of vindictiveness (in case you haven't heard, BenghaziSolyndraKenyaObamacareSocialism. More on the hour) delivered straight to the midbrain.

# ? Jun 11, 2013 12:48

prefect: Sep 11, 2001; No one, Woodhouse.
No one.; Dead Man’s Band

max4me posted:

Depends if you think New International is helping the right wing. I think all the sensationalism trash hurts them. Long ago they handed messaging control over to pundits and talking heads whose goals and interests are not that of the party imagine but of their own ratings.

The Gop can not reform as long as they have fox news as their mouth piece. Taking down News Internationals powers and breaking them, would finaly give them a chance to control their message, and re-tune it so they can win elections. Maybe even have a purge where the crazy base doesnt dictate poo poo anymore

But most likely money talks, and they will pay a fine with out admitting guilt

Roger Ailes is a Republican, not some crazed tea-party type. Fox News is controlled just the way they want it to be. When Glenn Beck became more trouble than he was worth, they got rid of him. They'll do the same to anybody else if they need to.

# ? Jun 11, 2013 13:01