And the BBC's Panorama program finally arrives tonight, bringing out new charges to an already lengthy list.
in the past we have had reports that a Murdoch firm called NDS has been involved in the cracking of TV satelite encryption cards, court cases have happened covering this hacking in Italy, but have petered out. however now
The Guardian is reporting
Questions for News Corp over rival's collapse | Media | The Guardian
Part of Rupert Murdoch'sNews Corporation empire employed computer hacking to undermine the business of its chief TV rival in Britain, according to evidence due to be broadcast by BBC1's Panorama programme on Monday .
The allegations stem from apparently incriminating emails the programme-makers have obtained, and on-screen descriptions for the first time from two of the people said to be involved, a German hacker and the operator of a pirate website secretly controlled by a Murdoch company.
The witnesses allege a software company NDS, owned by News Corp, cracked the smart card codes of rival company ONdigital. ONdigital, owned by the ITV companies Granada and Carlton, eventually went under amid a welter of counterfeiting by pirates, leaving the immensely lucrative pay-TV field clear for Sky.
More as the program happens
(Update)
And A Brit Article on the same thing
Rupert Murdoch’s Battle With the BBC - The Daily Beast
The prime time BBC1 Panorama documentary “Murdoch’s TV Pirates”—postponed from two weeks ago—has already been the subject of legal warnings. On Saturday News Corp.’s lawyers, PSB Law LLP, reportedlysent a confidential legal message to various media companies warning them not to reproduce the allegations it expects the BBC to air tonight. According to the letter, the synopsis of the documentary published on the BBC’s website as part of its advanced advertising billing for the program suggests that the documentary may contain “serious, defamatory, false and highly damaging” allegations against News Corp.