FBI widens News Corp inquiry after alleged computer hacking by subsidiary

US authorities reportedly looking into 'larger pattern of behaviour' by Murdoch companies following claims of strong-arm tactics

Ed Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 August 2011

The FBI is widening its investigation of News Corporation's activities within the US to look at whether alleged computer hacking by one of its subsidiaries was an isolated case or part of a "larger pattern of behaviour", Time magazine is reporting.

Time suggests that the FBI inquiry has been extended from a relatively narrow look at alleged malpractices by News Corp in America into a more general investigation of whether the company used possibly illegal strong-arm tactics to browbeat rival firms.

The allegation of computer hacking was made by the retail advertising company Floorgraphics against the advertising branch of News Corp, News America. In a civil lawsuit against News Corp in 2004, Floorgraphics told a court that its website, protected by password security, had been breached 11 times over four months without authorisation.

The source of the alleged hacking was traced back to an IP address registered to News America in Connecticut.

(More here.)