CORRECTED - Closing arguments as DISH Network, NDS trial ends

(Shows DirecTV was formerly owned by News Corp)

By Tori Richards

SANTA ANA, Calif., May 7 (Reuters) - DISH Network Corp has engaged in the same kind of satellite television piracy that it accused News Corp unit NDS Group of in a lawsuit, a lawyer for NDS argued on Wednesday during closing arguments in the case.

Attorney Darin Snyder told the jury in his closing remarks that DISH (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) employed an infamous hacker and attempted to crack the encryption codes of rivals in the satellite TV business.

DISH has sued NDS (NNDS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in a corporate espionage case that has the potential for damages of $1.6 billion if a jury finds against the News Corp (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unit and awards punitive damages.

Jury deliberations were set to begin in the high-profile case as early as Thursday morning.

"The plaintiffs are doing the same with practically everything they're complaining about with NDS," Snyder said. "They had a multi-million-dollar project where they tried to break into a Motorola (black) box."

Snyder said DISH employed convicted hacker Ron Ereiser, who had been caught trying to steal the codes of formerly News Corp-owned DirecTV.

NDS employed several hackers, including Christopher Tarvnosky, who was keeping tabs on Ereiser in a sting operation titled "Johnny Walker," according to testimony during the one-month trial in Santa Ana, California.