Murdoch company 'leaked rival's TV codes'

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3DEBE1XZC&live=true&tagid=ZZZLZDL1B0C&subheading=media,%20entertainment,%20%20sport

By Ashling O'Connor 
Media Correspondent
Published: April 11 2002 21:31 

A News Corporation whistleblower has claimed that NDS, a software
subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's pay-television empire, directed an
employee to leak secret codes belonging to its closest rival to
internet pirates.

Oliver Kommerling, a software security consultant, on Thursday said in
a written deposition to a California court that Chris Tarnovsky, an
NDS employee on the West Coast, arranged for Canal Plus Technologies'
codes - enabling smart cards in pay-TV boxes - to be published on the
internet.

The allegations, submitted as evidence in a $1bn (E1.1bn) lawsuit
brought by Canal Plus, the pay-TV arm of Vivendi Universal would, if
true, blow apart NDS's defence that it was not party to the hacking
suffered by the French company. NDS maintains it was not a party to
the hacking suffered by the French company.

They will also exacerbate tensions between Mr Murdoch and Jean-Marie
Messier, Vivendi's chief executive, fierce payTV rivals. NDS
technology is used by News Corp's British Sky Broadcasting, while
Canal Plus's smart cards are used by Vivendi and ITV Digital.

Both Canal Plus and ITV Digital are claiming hundreds of millions of
pounds in lost revenues from the piracy, which allowed hackers to
access films, sports and other content free. Canal Plus says it is
concerned its next generation of smart cards, out next week, will also
be hacked.

Mr Kommerling, whose company ADSR is 60 per cent-owned by NDS, claims
to have been told by NDS employees that the Canal Plus code - cracked
by NDS technicians in an Israeli laboratory - was sent to Chris
Tarnovsky, who had connections with the internet piracy community.

"The same NDS employees told me that it was agreed that Mr Tarnovsky
should arrange for Canal Plus code to be published on the internet,"  
he said in his deposition.

Canal Plus is seeking the disclosure of certain documents by NDS,
whose directors include James and Lachlan Murdoch. It says it wants to
avoid the destruction of potential evidence.

A California judge will next week hear motions by both parties. NDS
denies all charges.

NDS on Thursday night refused to comment on the fresh evidence
presented by Canal Plus.

But in its motion, obtained by the Financial Times, it said: "It is an
attempt by an inept competitor to shift the blame for its
incompetence, to damage its skilled competitor behind the shield of
the litigation privilege and to extract an unfair price in merger
negotiations."



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