I have been meaning to post about this phone-hacking trial now underway in the U.K. It has relevance to MJ b/c these are the same people who made his life hell on earth and now they are getting their karmic kick in the ass for their crimes.
The 2 'big fish' on trial are Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. There is a lot to say about Rebekah Brooks. I will just sketch it out and add more detail later. She started at the News of the World(a Sunday newspaper) and then went to the Sun (a daily newspaper). ("Sunday Times not a friend of mine"--Tabloid Junkie). She ended up being the editor of both of these 2 tabloids. It was the Sun that started the name W--J---. She started out writing a column for the News of the World and from there went up the ladder til she was Rupert Murdock's favorite.
(What is phone-hacking? It's accessing the personal cell phones and voice messages of targeted people by dialing in and using the default codes set by cell phone companies to listen to VM remotely. Most people, it turned out, did not reset these default PINs to their own passwords.)
edit: they also obtained the passcodes to the phones, when the owners had changed them from default codes, by bribery etc.
It was revealed in court she had a 6 year affair with Andy Coulson. He was the editor of the News of the World as well, while she was at the Sun. He later got chosen to be communications/p.r. director for David Cameron, the current Prime Minister. He had to resign when all this phone hacking came out, and News of the World also folded as a result.
This trial and scandal are rocking the tabs and it is high time their disgusting crimes against celebs and others (average people like families of crime victims and deceased soldiers in wars and also the Royal Family was heavily targeted) are brought to light and I hope they go to jail and this 'filthy press' is permanently shut down--it is a form of national and international bullying and corrupts the whole social fabric.
There have been many arrests and attempts to stop the ineffective 'self-regulation' of the press. The police were paid informants for the tabs and some of them have been arrested too.
I hope to add more info later. Just wanted to start this thread as I think it's important as vindication for all the MJ said about 'filthy press.' I am happy to see these criminals 'brought to justice' for how they slandered him and made it ok to denigrate him.
Ironic that they accused HIM of crimes he didn't commit while they themselves were committing crimes that were unknown til now. They were the criminals while pointing the finger at him.
Here are some links:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/andy-coulson-calum-best-court-hears
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/andy-coulson-palace-phone-hacking-trial
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/phone-hacking-prince-harry-sandhurst-essay-story
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/28/phone-hacking-trial-rebekah-brooks-andy-coulson
This is an excerpt from a book that discusses the phone hacking issue:
"Murdock’s tabloids, including The Sun and The News of the World, were the first to brand Jackson “***** *****,” the first to splash the molestation scandal on the front pages, and the first to mock his death (“***** ***** Heart Attacko”. Fittingly, they were also the first to face their own scandals in the UK. So far there have been over 600 cases of phone hacking (illegally accessing the voice mail of celebrities, the royal family, politicians, murder victims, and families of war veterans). In addition to actual phone hacking, charges include conspiracy to conceal “industrial scale” phone hacking as well as bribing politicians and police; 90 have been arrested and 16 charged. Investigations led to numerous high-profile resignations, including the Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, and the closing of one tabloid–News of the World, purchased by Murdock in 1989 and closed after 168 years of publication due to the scandal. Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International, the parent company of News of the World and The Sun, who presided over the smear campaign against Michael Jackson throughout her long career as editor of those papers, faces 5 criminal charges related to phone hacking and its cover-up."
The 2 'big fish' on trial are Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. There is a lot to say about Rebekah Brooks. I will just sketch it out and add more detail later. She started at the News of the World(a Sunday newspaper) and then went to the Sun (a daily newspaper). ("Sunday Times not a friend of mine"--Tabloid Junkie). She ended up being the editor of both of these 2 tabloids. It was the Sun that started the name W--J---. She started out writing a column for the News of the World and from there went up the ladder til she was Rupert Murdock's favorite.
(What is phone-hacking? It's accessing the personal cell phones and voice messages of targeted people by dialing in and using the default codes set by cell phone companies to listen to VM remotely. Most people, it turned out, did not reset these default PINs to their own passwords.)
edit: they also obtained the passcodes to the phones, when the owners had changed them from default codes, by bribery etc.
It was revealed in court she had a 6 year affair with Andy Coulson. He was the editor of the News of the World as well, while she was at the Sun. He later got chosen to be communications/p.r. director for David Cameron, the current Prime Minister. He had to resign when all this phone hacking came out, and News of the World also folded as a result.
This trial and scandal are rocking the tabs and it is high time their disgusting crimes against celebs and others (average people like families of crime victims and deceased soldiers in wars and also the Royal Family was heavily targeted) are brought to light and I hope they go to jail and this 'filthy press' is permanently shut down--it is a form of national and international bullying and corrupts the whole social fabric.
There have been many arrests and attempts to stop the ineffective 'self-regulation' of the press. The police were paid informants for the tabs and some of them have been arrested too.
I hope to add more info later. Just wanted to start this thread as I think it's important as vindication for all the MJ said about 'filthy press.' I am happy to see these criminals 'brought to justice' for how they slandered him and made it ok to denigrate him.
Ironic that they accused HIM of crimes he didn't commit while they themselves were committing crimes that were unknown til now. They were the criminals while pointing the finger at him.
Here are some links:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/andy-coulson-calum-best-court-hears
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/andy-coulson-palace-phone-hacking-trial
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/phone-hacking-prince-harry-sandhurst-essay-story
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/28/phone-hacking-trial-rebekah-brooks-andy-coulson
This is an excerpt from a book that discusses the phone hacking issue:
"Murdock’s tabloids, including The Sun and The News of the World, were the first to brand Jackson “***** *****,” the first to splash the molestation scandal on the front pages, and the first to mock his death (“***** ***** Heart Attacko”. Fittingly, they were also the first to face their own scandals in the UK. So far there have been over 600 cases of phone hacking (illegally accessing the voice mail of celebrities, the royal family, politicians, murder victims, and families of war veterans). In addition to actual phone hacking, charges include conspiracy to conceal “industrial scale” phone hacking as well as bribing politicians and police; 90 have been arrested and 16 charged. Investigations led to numerous high-profile resignations, including the Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, and the closing of one tabloid–News of the World, purchased by Murdock in 1989 and closed after 168 years of publication due to the scandal. Rebekah Brooks, the CEO of News International, the parent company of News of the World and The Sun, who presided over the smear campaign against Michael Jackson throughout her long career as editor of those papers, faces 5 criminal charges related to phone hacking and its cover-up."
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