A HACKER IN A CASE brought against him by Dish Network has testified to the court that he had been hired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to lend his specialised expertise to their business.

Christopher Tarnovsky is alleged to be an expert in programming smart cards, the credit-card-like devices that are used in cable TV boxes to get access to premium channels. Dish is suing him for cracking the encryption used on smart cards and disseminating that information to allow others to get free access to premium Dish network services.

Tarnovsky says that he was merely attempting to work out how Dish's security system worked, so that he could improve upon its security for his client - News Corp's NDS Group - which produces rival service DirecTV.

Dish, however, reckons that News Corp wanted the security broken so that it could help to flood the market with hacked smart cards, costing Dish over $900m in lost revenue and making its own business more competitive.

News Corp is attempting to distance itself from the whole shenanigans and Tarnovsky reckons he is being set up. Dish's lawyers asked him "This is all a big conspiracy?" to which our man in the dock agreed.

News Corporation? In shady corporate dealings to do over rivals? It must be a day with a 'y' in it. The case goes on. µ