DailyRadical

Is' Hackers' to serve Rupert Murdoch to sabotage the competition?
(Translated to English with google translator)

Madrid .- The world of piracy is extensive. Especially when the world of computers involved. Within this field that lies beyond the line of legality, but that many dare to exceed, is that of piracy of pay-TV broadcasters. That question must respond Murdoch before a jury this month in California, in a process that, strangely, nothing discussed in the United States.


The case is worthy of a Hollywood movie. Its protagonists include former secret agents, pirate Canadian television, 'hackers' Bulgarians and Germans, emails stolen and the mysterious suicide of a' hacker 'Berlin, who had been both by the Murdoch company shortly before his death, according to the Web describes Wired.


The group NDS, a British-Israeli firm that manufactures smart cards for pay television systems such as DirecTV, is a subsidiary of News Corporation (owned by Murdoch). The facts date back to 1997 when NDS is accused of 'crack' encryption NagraStar his rival, which produced cards and access systems for 'EchoStar's Dish Network' and other pay-TV systems. They also argue that NDS hired 'hackers' to manufacture and distribute cards to NagraStar pirates would be freely programming' Dish Network's'.


According to several experts in the field sites and as media have reported as CNN or 'The Guardian', by that time the encryption technology NDS was suffering a cascade of attacks by hackers. However, Murdoch came to think that everything was a maneuver in the shadow of Canal Plus Technologies from France. Thus, the American tycoon born in Australia could have planned to give the same coin.


As outlined in some articles in various forums specialized in this field are needed about five million euros for 'hacking' coding system. A quantity that can be derisory next to the nearly 101 million dollars to get NagraStar hopes for damage caused by piracy, unfair competition or copyright.


Judge David O. Carter said, after the process began, about his fear that the case would depend on the testimony of transgressors of the law known as' hackers' or pirates, who also have been used by companies involved in the lawsuit. The list of witnesses in the case includes the founder of EchoStar, Charlie Ergen; several 'hackers' and hackers, as well as Reuven Hazak, an Israeli who was responsible for the security and former deputy director of NDS' Shabak 'security agency Internal Israeli equivalent the British MI5).


But one of the key pieces of this puzzle is Christopher Tarnovsky, a computer engineer, known in the industry for his talent to decipher the various conditional access systems used by pay-TV broadcasters.


Although there is no evidence that defendants could directly, Tarnovsky he is accused of having allegedly been recruited in 1999 by NDS for publication on the Internet and break the security codes on the pay-TV channel Canal Plus and subsequently of the Swiss group Kudelski SA, which develops the system NagraStar, as can be read on the web SatCesc.


This maneuver is key throughout the process, and allowing access to thousands of people illegally and fraudulently to programming from the shackles of payment with the consequent loss of billions platforms.


In the coming weeks, Christopher Tarnovsky must appear in court in California to defend NDS. The computer itself acknowledges that "broke" the encryption cards Kudelski. This was hired by NDS to do so. According Tarnovsky, "this is an activity engaged in all companies in the sector."


There is a similar story in English here:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/hacker-in-murdo.html