The UK's News of the World phone hacking scandal has proven to be a treasure trove of unethical and unlawful practices. With seven resignations, 10 arrests and near 4,000 phone hacking victims so far, the drama from across the pond has shocked the world over. However, as ProPublica's Jake Bernstein explains on WNYC's On The Media, this scandal could also be breaking U.S. law.
"It's possible that News Corp. ran afoul of a 1970s era law called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Bernstein says. "This was something that came out of the Watergate era, and it's to stop companies from participating in bribery overseas."
This law has become quite popular with the Department of Justice and the SEC. Just last year there were 54 such cases, resulting in about $530 million for the SEC in corporate settlements.
You can listen to the interview below, and read the transcript from the episode as well.
Bernstein was also a guest on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show to further discuss the phone hacking scandal in relation to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He was joined by Jeff Jarvis of buzzmachine.com in an interview you can listen to below. You can also read Bernstein's related ProPublica investigation, Damned If You Do or Don't: How Murdoch Reporters' Bribes to British Cops Violate U.S. Law.
