The Daily, a news iPad app from News Corp., has hit 100,000 paid subscribers after being in existence a year. They celebrated their first birthday today with some good news. The iPad app was started shortly after controversy with Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., having quite the fit over services such as Google News and other outlets making it very easy to consume content online.

Ad revenue just doesn’t stack up and the CEO firmly believes in people paying for content which, if it’s absolutely exceptional and exclusive, that can be somewhat understood. Either way, their experiment into a completely mobile news experience, seems to be paying off for them.

Via Mashable:

“The publication has amassed more than 100,000 paid subscribers on the iPad, making it the third top-grossing iPad app in the iTunes Store last year. Of those 100,000, about half pay The Daily‘s $0.99 per week subscription fee, and the other half are annual ($39.99 per year) subscribers, according to publisher Greg Clayman.”

“Earlier this month, The Daily launched its first Android editionfor Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets. Now the digital newspaper is gearing up to release versions for iPhone and Android smartphones “in the next month or two,” says Clayman, thereby making its content available to the millions of consumers who own smartphones but not tablets. It will also allow existing subscribers to more easily access The Daily‘s updates throughout the day.”

Not too shabby at all. And with the app coming to more Android tablets, as long as they keep delivering good content and a solid user experience, they can definitely look forward to seeing those numbers grow.

Have you checked out The Daily app yet?

The Daily iPad App Hits 100,000 Paid Subscribers is a post from: The Inquisitr

After NewsCorp’s infamous caught-with-your-pants-down scandal and resulting investigation, Rupert Murdoch’s News International (the umbrella under which 20th Century Fox comfortably rests) is paying the piper.

Specifically, they are reaching into Papa Murdoch’s deep pockets to settle scores (read: lawsuits) against the company by high profile celebrities and victims of crime. In case you were comatose, News Corp got a very public pie in the face several months ago when it was leaked that the company had been allegedly hacking into private voice mail accounts for juicy, personal bits of information that they would then use in their publications. Accusers explain:

“They are now saying they are satisfied with the settlement. It isn’t just about the money. It’s also about an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. They wanted the apology. They wanted the facts to come out into the open.”

One of the biggest names in Newscorp v. Hollywood is actor Jude Law, who reportedly walked away with a cool $200,000 for his troubles. He explained:

“I owed it to my friends and family as well as myself to do this. I believe in a free press but what News Group did was an abuse of its freedoms. … They were prepared to do anything to sell their newspapers and to make money, irrespective of the impact it had on people’s lives.”

The civil suits against the news conglomerate are mostly settled by now, but the criminal investigation is still on the horizon. British Labour MP Chris Bryant, who received a settlement of over 46,000 dollars, says trial isn’t the goal:

“The whole aim of bringing these cases in the first place was to try and get to the truth. The truth will now come out either in court when the criminal investigations are completed or in the Leveson inquiry.”

Full video story from our pals at Newsy:

Do you think that NewsCorp is picking from the buffet of just desserts?

NewsCorp Settles Civil Suits with Celebrity Victims is a post from: The Inquisitr

The SOPA wars continue. Google has hit back at Rupert Murdoch, after the media magnate and News Corp CEO called the search colossus a “piracy leader” that “streams movies free.” In a tweet dated 15 January, Murdoch wrote:

“Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells adverts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying.”

Earlier today, a Google spokesperson retorted, telling the BBC:

“Google respects copyright – and we’ve worked hard to help rights holders deal with piracy. Last year we took down five million infringing web pages from our search results and invested more than $60 million (£40m) in the fight against bad ads.”

Murdoch has been in combative mood over SOPA, a proposed law that would give content owners and the U.S. government the power to have websites shut down for the slightest link to any other site that shares copyrighted content. The 80-year-old CEO has been ranting against all who oppose SOPA – including the White House, which appeared to side with SOPA protestors in a statement released on Sunday. The White House statement ended with the line:

“We will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet.”

News Corporation has openly supported SOPA from the get-go, so it was no surprise when Murdoch accused the Obama administration of bowing to “Silicon Valley paymasters”.

Google has been an open critic of SOPA, as it believes copyright infringement can be tackled in less ham-fisted ways. Like many SOPA opponents, the company argues the proposed act is too broad, and will result in a clampdown on many of the freedoms and innovations we take for granted on the Internet.

SOPA Protests: Google Hits Back at Rupert Murdoch is a post from: The Inquisitr

News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch may have just recently joined Twitter but his attacks against the British and now President Obama and Google have quickly become top trending topics on the social network.

Murdoch might be the only media based CEO is the world who doesn’t realize that internet users are turning away from companies that back the “Stop Online Piracy Act” known as SOPA. In his first Tweet he stated:

“So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,”

He then called Google a “piracy leader” since the site’s search engine can lead users to illegal downloading. In his Google attack Murdoch wrote:

“Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying.”

In response to the Tweet a Google spokesperson lashed back at the ridiculousness of Murdoch’s tweet:

“This is just nonsense,” said a Google spokesperson. “Like many other tech companies, we believe that there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking US companies to censor the Internet.”

For those not familiar with SOPA the bill would allow sites to be shut down completely if a copyright owner makes even simple complaints against any part of a websites content. Websites including Wikipedia, Craigslist and others have claimed that had SOPA existed when they were first founded they wouldn’t exist today.

It should be noted that Fox News receives millions of visitors from Google’s search engine and Google News platform.

Do you think Rupert Murdoch simply wants SOPA to be passed so his News Corp. can gain more control in the online space?

Rupert Murdoch Attacks Obama And Google In Weekend Twitter Attacks is a post from: The Inquisitr

Remember Myspace? It was a hotbed for teenagers to connect and chat with their friends, and had some popularity with the adult crowd. Recently, Rupert Murdoch joined Twitter and he’s been fairly active.

Being that he is the main guy behind News Corp., the company that bought Myspace back in 2005 for $580 Million, a lot of people have been asking him about the social network. Murdoch came clean and said, “Many questions and jokes about My Space.simple answer – we screwed up in every way possible, learned lots of valuable expensive lessons.”

Quite the statement, but seeing how quickly Myspace dropped to the bottom after being at the very top, many mistakes were definitely made.

“Fast forward to June, 2011: News Corp dumps MySpace for pennies on the dollar to investors including Justin Timberlake, who in an unscriptable life-imitates-art moment portrayed Facebook co-owner Sean Parker in the hit film The Social Network.”

“Buy, don’t build” can make a sound strategy, and MySpace was even arguably the market leader until 2008. Murdoch’s initial instinct was correct — even though the execution was awful — and it’s good that a total disaster like MySpace didn’t make him gun shy about his not-quite-as-big best last year on The Daily.”

Everyone makes mistakes. Social networking at the time was a very exciting and powerful medium, as it is today. Before the likes of Facebook rolled around, Myspace was growing at a rapid rate and the possibilities were exciting.

While things didn’t work out, the best thing one can do is learn from it and move on.

Rupert Murdoch Comes Clean About Myspace is a post from: The Inquisitr

News Corp. founder and CEO Rupert Murdoch made his Twitter debut less than 48 hours ago and he’s already receiving negative publicity after posting a comment about British holidays.

In a Tweet on the site Murdoch wrote:

 ”Maybe Brits have too many holidays for broke country!”

Following his tweet his own wife who joined the website at the same time as Rupert wrote:

 ”RUPERT!! delete tweet!!”

It turns out one of the most powerful moguls in media had a weakness for listening to one person, his wife’s warning quickly led to the deletion of the message.

Murdoch said to his 40,000 followers:

“I’m getting killed for fooling around here and friends frightened what I may really say!”

In any case Rupert Murdoch’s move to the internet is a big step for the businessman who just in 2009 told Vanity Fair that the internet was nothing more than a having for “predatory” practices. Murdoch also said cyberspace was just a place full of “porn, thievery and hackers.”

You would think that a guy who is in the middle of a phone hacking battle with British lawmakers would have a little more sense. He might run a multi-billion dollar business but Mr. Murdoch definitely knows how to act like an entitled little brat when the time calls for it.

Rupert Murdoch’s Wife Makes Him Remove Twitter Bashing Tweet Against Brits is a post from: The Inquisitr

News Corp. has reached a settlement in one phone hacking scandal. The company has agreed to pay the family of a murdered girl at the center of the case the sum of $4.8 million.

Under the agreement the family of Milly Dowler will receive $3.2 million with the rest of  the settlement being donated to a charity.

Dowler’s phone was hacked by employees at the now defunct News of the World, a scandal that led to further accusations and investigations around the world, including in the United States where News Corp. is accused of hacking phones that belonged to 9/11 victims and their families.

In a statement released to the press News Corp. founder and CEO Rupert Murdoch said:

“When I met with the Dowlers in July, I expressed how deeply sorry I was for the hurt we had caused this family.”

Murdoch also revealed:

“The behavior that the News of the World exhibited toward the Dowlers was abhorrent and I hope this donation underscores my regret for the company’s role in this awful event.”

According to reports Murdoch was directly involved in arranging the settlement for the Dowler family.

The settlement also comes just as News Corp. holds their shareholders meeting in Los Angeles.

Do you believe that a $4.8 million settlement makes up for the company’s violation of trust with their readers? With more investigations launched, falling stock prices and distrust around the globe that sum is only a small part of what the company has and will lose in the future.

News Corp. Settles One Phone Hacking Scandal For $4.8 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

In an attempt to avoid another News of the World incident News Corp. has setup an internal whistleblower hotline. The 24-hour “alertline” is meant to be used by employees who wish to report violations regarding the company’s ethics code.

In a document sent to all employees News Corp. has promised that even if the accusations end up being unfounded those employees will be protected from “retaliation” that could occur from their bosses.

The news of the hotline comes after both UK and US officials launched federal investigations over alleged payments that Murdoch employees made to police officers in order to obtain protected documents.

In the document News Corp. warns employees that bribery, especially against public workers in unacceptable, the document states:

“Gifts and hospitality that may be perfectly acceptable among private parties can be completely forbidden when the other party is a government official.”

No reward information or other benefits appear to be part of the memo which may scare many whistleblowers away for fear that retaliation will occur against them regardless of what a piece of paper states.

Do you feel that the News Corp snitch program can have any real effect on stopping illegal activities at the news agency?

News Corp. Sets Up Internal Whistleblower Hotline is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’ve been paying attention to the musings of the Wall Street Journal lately you’re probably already aware that their conservative editorial board has been attacking Warren Buffett and his support for taxing the ultra-wealthy and now Buffett is firing back.

While attending the Fortune magazine conference Buffett was asked when he will release his tax return as the WSJ has requested:

“I think it might be a terrific idea if they would just ask their boss, Rupert Murdoch, and he and I will meet at Fortune, and we’ll both give you our tax returns and you can publish them.”

The move by Buffett leaves Murdoch with two choices, share his tax returns from 2010 or allow the Wall Street Journal to appear as a hypocritical news agency for attacking Buffett and his charitable ways while protecting Murdoch and his media conglomerate.

In the meantime News Corp., owners of the Wall Street Journal have failed to return requests for comments and Rupert Murdoch appears to be shying away from the Warren Buffett request.

Do you think both billionaires should open up their tax returns to scrutiny? Regardless of how Buffett’s tax return may look his charitable donations have far exceeded anything Murdoch could even come close to matching.

Warren Buffett Challenges Rupert Murdoch To Game Of Show And Tell “Tax Return Style” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Life just gets more unbearable and squalid for 80-year-old multi-gazillionnaire Rupert Murdoch and his 42-year-old wife Wendi Deng.

Fresh from the News Corp. hacking scandal, The Real Estalker reports that the media mogul has made a $5.7 million loss on his mansion in Long Island. The final sale price? $9.1 million.

Murdoch put the mansion, named ‘Rosehearty,’ up for sale on the open market in June 2007. Back then, it carried a price of $14.8 million. Four years later, that figure has collapsed.

So, what does $9.1 million get you nowadays? Well, Rosehearty is a stately 1900s Colonial mansion with 11 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, a 950-square foot guest house, and a 50-foot swimming pool with pool house.

Measuring around 10,000 square feet, the mansion also comes with a 950-square foot guesthouse, a garage that’s big enough for eight cars, a beach cabana, and a floodlit tennis court.

The Real Estalker notes that the sale should still be considered a rumor for now, as it’s yet to appear on property records, but someone may have got themselves a bargain from poor old Rupert.

Hopefully Mr. Murdoch can be consoled while he reflects on his loss in his $44 million Fifth Avenue triplex. Or his 8,651-square foot Wallace Neff-designed mansion in Beverly Hills (11 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms). I hear either suffices.

If you’d like to see more pics of Murdoch’s modest pad, The Real Estalker has ‘em up.

Rupert Murdoch’s Long Island Mansion Goes For $9.1 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

It looks like News Corp. and CEO Rupert Murdoch will be getting their U.S. based day in court sooner rather than later, Mark Lewis, a lawyer in Britain’s phone hacking scandal has announced that he expects the case to be filed with the next week.

Speaking to the Associated Press Lewis says his firm has hired Norman Siegel to take on News Corp. in the United States. Siegel represents the families of many people who were killed during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers.

Lewis also revealed that the case would be contested in New York.

It’s expected that this newest lawsuit will focus on the hacking of 9/11 victims and bribes made to foreign officials. There is also the possibility that the could turn into a class action lawsuit focusing on the FCPA.

In the UK Lewis represented the family of Milly Dowler, a 13-year old girl who was abducted and later killed only to have her phone records hacked and published by News of the World. Lewis is currently negotiating the biggest settlement yet from the phone hacking scandal.

Does it surprise you it took this long to have a civil case filed considering the fact that U.S. officials began probing into the matter so quickly and shareholders are already suing the company they are invested in?

News Corp. To Be Sued Next Week Over Hacking Scandal is a post from: The Inquisitr

Rupert Murdoch is watching as his News Corp. media conglomerate unravels and now word is surfacing that some of the company’s major shareholders have filed a lawsuit against News Corp. The suit alleges that board members knew for more than a decade that some of their US subsidiaries were engaging and even encouraging illegal hacking, not just on phones but also regarding competitor’s computers.

According to several different investment funds involved in the lawsuit, the News Corp. board “has not lifted a finger” to stop hacking attempts and therefore they have exposed investors to “undue legal risk.”

The specific lawsuit in question regards News Corps’ News America Marketing and NDS Group units. The former publishes advertising inserts for Sunday editions of newspapers and is already fighting five lawsuits for anti-competitive behavior, including computer hacking.

In one document a competitor alleges that the company’s CEO promised to “destroy” him if he got in News America’s way, telling the CEO “I work for a man who wants it all, and doesn’t understand anybody telling him he can’t have it.”

Since the News Of The World phone hacking scandal broke shares in News Corp managed to fall at one point by more than 25% while Rupert Murdoch and the rest of his family members continued testifying about their company’s practices in front of various investigative boards around the world.

Do you think shareholders should be suing News Corp. over their despicable business practices? The fact that this company is allowed to still exists amazes me beyond belief.

News Corp. Shareholders Sue Company Over Phone Hacking Scandal is a post from: The Inquisitr

More to report if this story develops any further. [Twitter]

Rupert Murdoch To Step Down As CEO of News Corp [Rumor] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lulzsec and Anonymous Attack Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks is a post from: The Inquisitr

Police have arrested Rebekah Brooks – the 43-year-old former chief executive of News International – in connection with an investigation into phone hacking and bribery at News Corp’s News of the World.

Brooks, the loyal lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch and tenth person to be arrested in the scandal, turned herself into a London police station on Sunday afternoon and apparently didn’t believe she would be imprisoned upon doing so.

The ex-chief – she resigned on Friday – is scheduled to go before a committee of British Parliament this week that is investigating the allegations of hacking and bribery, however the arrest throws her planned testimony into uncertainty, because she wouldn’t have to answer questions from the committee that might sway the separate criminal investigation.

“My resignation makes it possible for me to have the freedom and the time to give my full cooperation to all the current and future inquiries, the police investigations and the CMS appearance,” Brooks said in her statement of resignation.

Brooks has consistently asserted that she had no knowledge of the phone hacking and alleged police bribery despite the fact that she was editor of News of the World from 2000 to 2003 – the period in which when the phone of a young girl, Milly Dowler, was hacked.

Update: Apparently Brooks has already been bailed out, according to a statement released to the AFP by her spokesperson.

“I can confirm that she (Brooks) was released earlier this evening and has been bailed until late October,” her spokesman David Wilson told AFP.

via Guardian

Rebekah Brooks Arrested in Murdoch Phone Hacking Scandal is a post from: The Inquisitr

Hustler founder Larry Flynt isn’t happy with the way Rupert Murdoch is running News Corp following the recent News of the World scandal and U.S. investigations into the company’s reporting practices regarding the attempting hacking of 9/11 victims phones along with the phone records of the victims family and friends.

In an op-ed piece for the Washington Post Flynt writes:

“Simply put, he publishes what he wants,” while going on to add, “apparently regardless of how he gets information and heedless of the responsibility associated with the power he wields.”

Flynt then compares News Corp. publications to his own Hustler adult magazine, giving himself the win by noting:

“No matter how offensive or distasteful some people may find Hustler magazine and my other publications, no one has appeared unwillingly in their pages. I do not create sensationalism at the expense of people living private lives.”

Love or hate Larry Flynt, he makes a great point, when your publications are full of more lies than an adult magazine you have big issues to deal with at the top levels of your organization. It was one thing when Fox News was simply making up the news, it’s something altogether more pitiful when they attempt to steal that news from victims of tragedies.

Larry Flynt Attacks Rupert Murdoch, News of the World is a post from: The Inquisitr

While News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch may have closed down News of the World over their UK phone hacking scandal, investigations into the company’s practices have not ended and are hitting closer to home with U.S. officials now investigating the publication (owned by News Corp.) for attempting to hack into the cell phones of 9/11 victims and their families.

Various lawmakers including Rep. Peter King had called for an investigation in the U.S. almost immediately after the scandal broke.

The investigation comes after reports began surfacing last week in which News Corp. employees attempted to bribe a New York City police officer in order gain access to phone records of British victims who were killed in the attacks and the phone records of their families.

At this time it’s still unclear if the FBI is involved or if the issue may be even more broad in scope.

It’s still unclear what, if any information News Corp. employees were able to obtain from voicemails and other phone records.

News Corp Under Investigation, Attempted To Hack Phones Of 9/11 Victims is a post from: The Inquisitr

After a phone hacking scandal rocked the 168-year-old News of The World publication owner Rupert Murdoch has decided to close down the publication with Sunday marking the last edition for the organization.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal James Murdoch noted:

“If recent allegations are true, it was inhuman, and has no place in our company.”

According to the younger Murdoch, the paper has “voluntarily given evidence to police” while he threw those responsible for the scandal rightfully under the bus, noting ”those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences.”

168 years in business and all it took to close the paper was a phone hacking scandal, welcome to the new world of technology.

Rupert Murdoch Shuts Down “News Of The World” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Way to go Rupert.

Not only are your reporters pissed at the drop in traffic but your advertisers are leaving in droves. All because you knew better than the rest of the web and put everything behind a paywall.

As Rob Lynam told Ian Burrell at the Independent recently

Faced with a collapse in traffic to thetimes.co.uk, some advertisers have simply abandoned the site. Rob Lynam, head of press trading at the media agency MEC, whose clients include Lloyds Banking Group, Orange, Morrisons and Chanel, says, “We are just not advertising on it. If there’s no traffic on there, there’s no point in advertising on there.” Lynam says he has been told by News International insiders that traffic to The Times site has fallen by 90 per cent since the introduction of charges. “That was the same forecast they were giving us prior to registration and the paywall going up, so whether it’s a reflection on reality or not, I don’t know.”

He warns that newspaper organisations have less muscle in internet advertising campaigns than they do in print. “Online, we have far more options than just newspaper websites – it’s not a huge loss to anyone really. If we are considering using some newspaper websites, The Times is just not in consideration.”

I hate to be the one to say we told you so Rupert, but hey – we told you so and so did a whole bunch of really smart people. I realize that Rupert thinks that he is at war with new media and that like Julius Caesar he will triumph but damn man 90% of your traffic down the tubes, advertisers think your not worth consideration anymore.

How you call that winning any war is beyond me, but hey keep it up your competitors will enjoy the increase in visitors and profits.

The cost of Murdoch’s paywall experiment? 90% of The Times traffic. is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you ever needed a sure sign of how delusional the battle against new media from News Corp has become, news today suggests that Rupert Murdoch believes himself to be Julius Caesar.

Kara Swisher at AllThingsD details how the battle against new media at News Corp is known internally as “Project Alesia,” after the battle led by Julius Caesar against the Gauls in what is now France in September 52 BC. Read Kara’s post for the historical context of the battle, which the Romans won and ultimately led to Gaul becoming a Roman territory.

If News Corp though believes that its battle is one with parallels to Caesar, you need to look past the Battle into the shorter term following the battle. Although over a period of eight years, the comparison of the Roman time scale vs the News Corp one shouldn’t be equal: in an age where news and information travels at the speed of light, eight Roman years is generously eight months today, but in pure mathematics a lot less; it would take weeks for news from Rome to travel across the Empire, where as Rupert Murdoch has access to the internet and telephones.

So what happened after the Battle of Alesia? Well, as it turned out, the Roman senate refused to allow Caesar the honor of a triumph for his victory in the Gallic Wars, which eventually led, in part, to the Roman Civil War of 50–45 BC.

For those with a scant understanding of Roman history, the Civil War of 50-45 BC saw Caesar take full control over the Roman land, and saw the abolition of Republican Rome in favor of what is known today as the Roman Empire.

At this point, Caesar is winning, and perhaps in the short term Murdoch may as well. But it doesn’t take a Roman scholar to know what happened later, but it does help if you read Shakespeare at school, because you’d know the saying “Beware The Ides of March.”

In the end, Caesar dies, not of natural causes but at the hands of his own supporters who didn’t like the direction Rome was taking.

The Roman Empire though didn’t die with Caesar, but it did eventually die. As a side point, Caesar failed to invade Britain twice, I wonder if the parallel there is with Murdoch’s failed attempts at establishing News Corp online with failures such as MySpace and others?

If Murdoch is Caesar, and News Corp the Roman Empire, News Corp will eventually die as well; it might not be immediately, and it won’t be in 400 years, but it will happen because the same history they’re basing their new media battle on says that it will. History tells us that no empire lasts forever, and News Corp is the biggest empire in the media world today. The only question is how soon will they fall?

Murdoch Thinks He’s Caesar. Dare We Say Beware The Ides Of March is a post from: The Inquisitr