Fark legal net tightens on Fox-linked hacker

Richard Thompson, a blogger who tracks the Memphis, Tenn. news scene at Mediaverse Memphis, has done a follow-up interview with Drew Curtis, the founder of Fark.com. Last week, Curtis, left, fingered Darrell Phillips, to his right, a new media manager at News Corp.-owned TV station WHBQ Fox13, as an all-but-certain suspect behind attempts to hack into the site. He based his accusation on an all-but-conclusive trail of electronic evidence. Thompson, at first skeptical of the accusation, seems to be giving it more credence, as Curtis confirmed that Fark has plans underway to seek legal action. After the jump, the latest revelations.

Thompson: What's the possibility that Fark could be wrong? And if that happens, what can be done to redress Phillips' damaged reputation? Curtis: Our chances of being wrong are close to nil. Even with the information we currently have we're standing at 99.9%. Our data indicates that only one individual was using the dphillips Fark account for the entire time it's been in existence. That individual worked at Fox, used a Verizon Wireless card, and a Comcast cable modem account in the Memphis area.

It's either Phillips or he's been completely owned by someone else, who coincidentally has access to all of his websites, email accounts, PayPal information, work and home computers. That's a huge stretch.

It's important to note that Fox is not currently a target of Curtis's legal action. "We don't believe at this time that Fox13 had anything to do with this," Curtis tells Thompson. Curtis's lawyers are preparing requests for subpoenas, expected to be filed next week, to get information from Internet service providers in hopes that that data will link, conclusively, the hacker's access attempts to accounts owned by Phillips.

Given that, it's odd that the Fox station has made no comment in this matter. Odd, especially, because according to Thompson, the station had promised a statement earlier this week, but none has materialized. At this point, some might say that Fox's silence is beginning to speak volumes.

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