The next time you think the American press has gone too far, remember this story.
Driven by constant pressure to outdo the competition or lose their jobs, UK reporters started hacking the mobile phones of celebrities, including the royal family.
Often, the hacking was simplified by the phone's owner not changing the password from the factory preset of 1111 or 4444 (for instance).
Once they were in, reporters would review voice and text messages to obtain information used in gossipy stories about the details of the victims' lives.
When the authorities figured out what was up they only focused on several reporters, and even then, only concerning certain victims.
After one victim hit the jackpot with a million pound court award, people began demanding that police tell them if they were also hacked because, as one lawyer put it, it was a "golden ticket" to a winnable lawsuit.
I think the worst aspect of this story is how lightly the police treaded when it came to punishing these criminals.
This is a clear cut case of illegal invasion of privacy.
The other part that bugs me is that people knew and didn't set the B*st*rds up with disinformation to embarrass the tabloids and hurt their credibility.
No comments:
Post a Comment