The press release was brief and terse. No reason was given but the usual quotations were included. Among journalists speculation was rife.
--- STEPHEN BARDEN RESIGNS FROM NEWS DATACOM 26 APRIL 1995 Stephen Barden, Chief Executive and Managing Director of News Datacom, has resigned. Greg Clark, President, News Technology Group of the News Corporation Limited to whom News Datacom reports said today: "Stephen has contributed significantly to News Datacom and will be missed by management and staff alike. The current positive trading position and technological strengths of News Datacom stand as a testimony to Stephen's leadership. I wish him the best of luck in his future activities." ----
In the Black Book, I have pointed out that the worst kind of person to put in charge of a counter-piracy program is a lawyer. The fact that Stephen Barden trained as a lawyer may have had something to do with the rather lacklustre results that News Datacom have had fighting piracy.
Significantly, his appointment and the Ho Lee Fook occurred at roughly the same time. It was perhaps the worst baptism of fire that any managing director could have had.
The speculation on why Barden resigned is only beginning. Some sources seem to think that it was because Barden wanted to expand News Datacom beyond the realm of BSkyB.
The fact that Pay Television is a big market would have inspired Barden to look at the bigger picture. Prior to his arrival, News Datacom was looked upon as the card supplier for Sky.
With the European satellite television market going though drastic expansion, it would have been a good thing to be able to offer prospective broadcasters a tried and tested, though albeit insecure, access control system.
The Sky Multichannels package may have been an attempt at implementing such a plan. Of course the broadcasters that signed on for the Multichannels were less than pleased to discover that the security of the 07 Sky card was non-existent.
Other areas were being explored. The VideoCrypt II variant was intended to provide a VideoCrypt based system for the mainland European market. This was not as successful for News Datacom as they had hoped. The Europeans knew about the insecurity of VideoCrypt and were not that keen on News Datacom's track record in protecting systems.
It would have been very difficult to see how Barden could have succeeded in protecting VideoCrypt. The stupid decisions may not have been his responsibility. His idea of expanding News Datacom beyond the BSkyB serfdom is interesting but it seemed to ignore one fact - the rest of the world does not see News Datacom as being totally successful in protecting systems.
It is unlikely that Barden will ever seek employment in Pay Television security. The main question now relates to his successor as head of News Datacom.
This resignation could not have come at a more critical time for News Datacom. The 09 Sky card is totally compromised and a replacement card has to be issued soon. Perhaps as a result the new 0A card may not appear until September at the earliest.