Report says judge warns News Corp.

A federal judge presiding over a corporate spying suit against News Corp. said the company could lose the case worth hundreds of millions of dollars if Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch does not testify about what he knew, ABC News reported.

The network said it obtained a transcript of an in-chambers hearing during which U.S. District Judge David Carter said, “There is a real risk” of losing the trial if Murdoch does not take the stand and “briefly say, ‘I didn’t do it,’ and ‘I didn’t know about it.’ ”

News Corp. unit NDS Group is being sued in Los Angeles federal court, accused of hiring hackers to steal and post data that allowed free access to DISH Network Corp.’s satellite TV service. News Corp. owns rival satellite provider DirecTV.