"It is very rare," said Blair Levin, a fellow at the Aspen Institute and a former high-ranking FCC official. He added that with regard to News Corp. he could "easily see battles arising on these issues."
Even if News Corp. is found to have behaved badly abroad, short of a conviction of Rupert Murdoch himself, the FCC may find its hands tied.
"If News Corp. or one of the Murdochs or other senior officers or directors got a criminal conviction, maybe, on a really good day, with wind at your back, calm seas, and a nuclear turbine you might get something going," said attorney John Hane of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. "But I really doubt it."
That sentiment was echoed by Rebecca Arbogast, a media analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.
"A lot of people might argue what was going on there indicated something less than high character, but I do not see the government stepping in and doing anything here," Arbogast said.
Media Matters' Hogue argues that the government should be proactive on News Corp. rather than watching events unfold from afar.
"Waiting for proof beyond a shadow of a doubt where lines were crossed gets us to where the U.K. was," she said, adding, "criminal investigations absolutely need to happen right away."
