Sony pulls the Interview... Possibly canned for good!

[Xenocity 343]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/17/7412393/sony-cancels-the-interview-release-after-theaters-pull-out

 

Sony has announced, it has canned the pulled the release of the Interview. 

Major theater chains had already refused to show the movie. 

 

Sony will review the situation at a later date to determine whether or not to release the movie. 

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Always good to know that idea threats have power.

[Compdude787 916]

How disappointing. Are we really that afraid of offending North Korea? They're already the laughingstock of the world. Sure, put extra cops at the theaters, but if the bad guys are stupid enough to publicly announce their intentions to attack the theaters, that means they're going to be less likely to actually succeed at getting away with their attacks. This group (who knows if they're actually connected to the North Korean gov't?) is clearly butthurt that someone would dare to criticize North Korea; maybe if they like that country so much, they should move there. But I'm sure they'll soon regret doing so...

[Hamish 1,369]

I'm glad sony made the right decision to pull its release, no point risking peoples lives over a movie. It was highly unlikely that a group of North Korean hackers would be able to bomb multiple targets within the United States, but better to be safe than sorry.

At the same time I'm disappointed that a basic human right, free speech, has been silenced by a group of radicals whom its likely history won't favour too kindly. Who knows if they are related to the government, people have high aspirations for their leaders over there, so it is probably an independent group. 

I probably wouldn't have seen the movie, but its sad that those who would have now can't because of a group of people in a different country.

[Duke87 1,070]

The profit motive at work. Want to stop a company from publishing something? Scare them into thinking that the consequences of doing so will cost them more than publishing it will make them. Sony's hand is kind of forced here since too many theaters are refusing to show the movie. The theaters, meanwhile, are afraid that something horrible will happen that would destroy their business, and are more than willing to forgo a little bit of revenue in order to avoid that risk.

 

Now, if I were in charge at Sony my response to this would be to release the movie for everyone to download for free, since that would make a very strong statement that we're not about to let the terrorists win and be great PR. But I'm sure the execs responsible are concerned that doing that might result in retaliation where they and other employees are put in the crosshairs of the same folks who threatened to attack movie theaters, and ultimately no one wants to put their life at risk over a movie.

 

Which is a shame because when you capitulate to threats you teach your enemy that that works and encourage them to continue doing the same thing.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Moral cowardice is the order of the day.  It is feared, but  not known, whether these are real, tangible threats or not.  The Department of Homeland Security should be on top of this one because it is an opportunity for them to really do their job.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Well, we'll always have Team America: World Police.  At least there's that.

[Sabretooth78 808]

North Korea has computers?  Oh, right.

 

 

That's some wi-fi antenna he's got there.

 

 

Moral cowardice is the order of the day.  It is feared, but  not known, whether these are real, tangible threats or not.  The Department of Homeland Security should be on top of this one because it is an opportunity for them to really do their job.

 

It's because they don't know.  Just like they haven't known anything about any other threat they've claimed to have "prevented" over the years.  See also, TSA.  The very basis of their existence is that of a knee-jerk reaction to a massive intelligence failure.  Has the government failed at something?  Expand it!  'Cause that'll work!

 

Although at least they're admitting it this time.  I guess I have to give them some credit for that, don't I?

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

And what are these hackers going to bomb cinemas with? Their cyber bark? To make that threat is one thing but to carry out the means: planning, gathering together materials and so forth, such an act, and the plotters, would be found out by the FBI and the CIA. These hackers are trolling the US by using the magic phrase 9/11. If you ask me I think the hacker's message has been hacked given how abruptly it changed.

 

Besides right now the FBI and CIA are all over this group because they made this threat. That's why I think it's a one man troll or a group whose message got hijacked so various government agencies could get on top of them. Make that affirmative with the 9/11 remark.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There was that incident with the guy who shot up a theatre premiere.  Maybe the hackers are hoping for some copy cat crimes.  It only takes a few nuts in various places with AK-47s to kill a lot of people when they can be mowed down in ranks.  I suppose the next thing will be metal detectors at theatre entrances.  I smell a police state.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Obama says that was a silly thing to do.

 

And he is right.  The companies in the U.S. have allowed the hair on the tail of the dog to wag the dog.  If some malicious foreign outfit can cause a disruption in business over a comedy, what next?  It appears that America's get up and go has got up and went.

[rsc204 21,817]

Whilst I personally want to come down on the side of free speech there is a fact at play here that kinda trumps everything, what do you do when a state, an actual country decides to threaten you? And given the hack they pulled off recently on Sony (and the problems with PSN not too long ago) it is painfully obvious that Sony have no viable means of defense against these people. I mean jeez, how do you stop North Korea from hacking your systems if they have the sort of resources and will (for whatever banal and crazy rationale) to do so?

 

So once the cinemas all decided not to bother, sure enough you might as well try and gain the positive PR of not risking poor peoples lives and suck up your losses. Personally I'd like to see it somehow make its way onto the internet, that would give the world a means to show the North Koreans that we are not all able to be manipulated in the way they have Sony.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I really think it is a constitutional matter.  The NKs have made Sony look like idiots and have made a hash of the first amendment.  People who put derogatory things in e-mails deserve whatever they get since the Internet is a public broadcast medium, no matter how you cut it.

 

However, the issue with freedom of speech is another, federal matter and amount to an international incident.  Some retaliation against the NKs should be done.  Further trade restrictions or somehow cutting them off from international communications, perhaps.  They need a real object lesson.

 

Obama needs to send the board of directors of Sony a copy of 'Profiles in Courage'.  They chickened out.

[hym 358]

The US has pretty much maxed out its options for sanctioning North Korea. What new sanctions is the US supposed to implement?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The US has pretty much maxed out its options for sanctioning North Korea. What new sanctions is the US supposed to implement?

How about a total naval blockade?  This would leave them only China to trade with.  One 'act of war' deserves another.

[Easy Bakes 253]

So there wont be another bad seth rogan movie?

who do we thank?

[rsc204 21,817]

Mr Flibble? Don't tell me he's working with Kim Jong Un now, that would explain a lot!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

NK denies accusation and suggests joint investigation.

 

Possibly they’d like to come in from the cold.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I'll bet they're just feeling ronery.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I'll bet they're just feeling ronery.

Or maybe I'm right, and they are getting tired of being the world pariah.

[Meg 368]

 

I'll bet they're just feeling ronery.

Or maybe I'm right, and they are getting tired of being the world pariah.

 

 

They can stop being that anytime they want, although they probably don't know how.   I imagine it would feel like stepping into chaos for them.

 

I am not defending them.  This is terrorist blackmail and has set a bad precedent in many ways.    I think it has been mishandled every step in the process.

 

But has anyone stopped to wonder if a comedy about an assassination might be an offensive concept?    I know, it is getting difficult to tell a joke at all because so many people get offended at so many different things.  But I do have to wonder who thought this idea was funny in the first place.

 

The only way I can know if it was a good idea or not is to see the movie.   Which I would not have done without all of this harassment.  But now, I want to watch it just to see what all of the fuss is about.   and to stand up in defiance against censorship.

 

The best thing that Sony can do right now is to find a way to offer it for free online. 

[LexusInfernus 908]

But has anyone stopped to wonder if a comedy about an assassination might be an offensive concept?    I know, it is getting difficult to tell a joke at all because so many people get offended at so many different things.  But I do have to wonder who thought this idea was funny in the first place.

Indeed. I wonder how America would have reacted if say Russia or Iran made a movie that ended up with the protagonists murdering president Obama. 

 

Its poor taste to use real, existing leaders in movies where they end up getting murdered (exception if its a based on real events kind of story). 

[Meg 368]

 

 

Its poor taste to use real, existing leaders in movies where they end up getting murdered (exception if its a based on real events kind of story). 

 

 

 

I'll take that a step further and say it's in poor taste to use any real, existing human beings in movies where they end up getting murdered, except in a historical context.

 

Even the annoying people who we wish would just go away (Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, Kim Kardashian, etc.).   A movie about murdering them would be in poor taste. 

 

Heck, even the people who deserve to be locked up (Ray Rice, Jerry Sandusky, James Holmes, etc).  A movie about murdering them would be kinda creepy.   Yes, I think they should be shot but I also think a movie about it would be in poor taste.

 

Fictional characters get murdered all the time.   The murder mystery and police procedural are popular genres of fiction.   But having the target be a living, real life human being is in poor taste.

 

That said, I do believe that Sony has the right to make such movies.  Poor taste and offensive should not be the same as illegal.     I would prefer that there just not be a market for such things.   But the hackers have ensured that a market for this movie exists. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

To carry that to the ad absurdum point, could it be that this whole thing is a publicity stunt that backfired?  Or did it backfire?  With today's media, one wonders.

 

What if there was no hack?  Just a deliberate back door left open for the gag.

[hym 358]

What if there was no hack?  Just a deliberate back door left open for the gag.

 

Unlikely.  Anyone who has a PlayStation console and uses the PlayStation Network can attest to the hacking difficulties Sony has had in recent years.  Sony has been under off and on again attacks for years now.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If Sony has been under attack, they sure haven't done much about it if private servers for their e-mail and business papers were vulnerable.  They could at least have using encryption, and set up several layers of firewalls...

 

This report smacks of U.S. unintelligence agencies doing a CYA dance.  It is devolving into one of those 'He said, She said' arguments that expend a lot of green house gases, but leads nowhere.  If the FBI has such evidence, let's see it.

[LexusInfernus 908]

To carry that to the ad absurdum point, could it be that this whole thing is a publicity stunt that backfired?  Or did it backfire?  With today's media, one wonders.

 

What if there was no hack?  Just a deliberate back door left open for the gag.

It was definitely a hack. The information that came out of this has been of a pretty sensitive topics (Sony execs fighting over movies, calling Angelina Jolie a talentless spoiled brat, Sony employees asking upper management to please stop making horrible Adam Sandler movies, etc) that you most definitely don't want to get out in the public. 

 

@Meg, yes I fully agree. If you want a movie where you kill a famous person, do it the way its usually been done. Make a fictional person that just behaves like that famous person. It works great in satire movies. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ Sorry, but I don't think one can really tell the difference between a hack and a backdoor.  The same material would be released in either case.  Got to make it look 'real'.

 

Sony has been cyberattacked so often that it is not credible that someone could succeed to this extent without assistance.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30568455

 

The US is considering putting North Korea back on the terror list. Let's hope this doesn't escalate into intervention because unlike Iraq, Libya and Ukraine there aren't several thousand artillery pieces pointing at the neighbouring nation's capital.

[LexusInfernus 908]

Meh, the North Korean army isn't that impressive. Sure, it looks amazing on paper, but in reality its underfunded, lacks proper training and is poorly maintained. 

 

In the case of a war, it won't last long for the North Koreans.