Absolute Comment On Ofcom To Probe Sky Email Hacking

April 27, 2012 - PRLog -- Absolute a local sales and marketing company stated “We are glad that Ofcom has stepped in and have decided to do something about this email hacking.” It comes after Sky admitted earlier this month it accessed the accounts of "canoe man" John Darwin and his wife Anne; and a suspected paedophile.  At the time Sky defended its actions as being in the public interest and said it was "responsible journalism". The head of Sky News, John Ryley, is due to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry later.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Ofcom is investigating the fairness and privacy issues raised by Sky News' statement that it had accessed without prior authorisation private email accounts during the course of its news investigations. We will make the outcome known in due course. "Ofcom's broadcasting code includes a clause - Rule 8.1 - which states that: "Any infringement of privacy in programmes, or in connection with obtaining material included in programmes, must be warranted." The director at Absolute said “I hope that Ofcom find out the cause of the hacking and put everyone’s mind at ease.”

The BBC's Media Correspondent Torin Douglas says intercepting emails is illegal under the Computer Misuse Act, and there is no public interest defence. But in a blog earlier this month Mr Ryley said the Crown Prosecution Service had acknowledged there were occasions when it was justified for a journalist to commit an offence in the public interest.  

He said the Daily Telegraph paid for stolen data to expose the MPs' expenses scandal and the Guardian - which first published this latest news - had admitted hacking a phone in pursuit of a story. The Metropolitan Police embarked on its own investigation into computer hacking, and email interception last year. Operation Tuleta is investigating a number of allegations regarding breach of privacy and a number of people have been arrested and released in connection with the inquiry. A source at Absolute, “this issue is quite controversial as many hackers have a cause and willing to anything for it – the industry have nicknamed them ‘hacktivists’.”