by ceebs
Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 03:59:30 AM EST
Rapid maneuvering tonight as News International tries to push back against the possibility of upcoming corporate charges:
News Corporation directors could face charges for neglect of duties | Media | The Guardian
Directors within Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation could face corporate charges and prosecution for neglect of their duties, in plans that are being examined by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Company lawyers, fearing a dramatic escalation of the hacking scandal by criminalising the boards on which Murdoch family members sit, are understood to have protested to the authorities.
A criminal prosecution could have a strong adverse impact on the deliberations by Ofcom as to whether News Corp representatives are "fit and proper" to hold UK broadcasting licences.
If these charges occur, We would be seeing directors and former directors up in front of a judge. And if that happens then the chances of BskyB retaining its fit and proper person test sink dramatically. That is the first domino, as several countries have laws that say if you are found not fit and proper in one country, then you are automatically not fit and proper there also.
In a seperate article there is more trouble for the Tories:
Boris Johnson invites Rupert Murdoch as personal guest to Olympic event | Media | The Guardian
Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has invited Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng as his personal guests to watch Rebecca Adlington defend her 800 metre swimming gold at the 2012 Olympics on Friday.
The tycoon and his wife will sit poolside with the Conservative politician and other business leaders at the high-profile event, for what Johnson describes as his "schmoozathon".
The Guardian understands the invitation was due not just to Murdoch's business role but his investment in British sport through his News Corporation companies, in particular BSkyB, over the years.
But the decision of Johnson, who in his role as mayor has oversight of Scotland Yard, to "schmooze" the News International proprietor while a Metropolitan police investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal involving the company is still under way, provoked dismay among his political opponents.
At the very least this looks corrupt.