Sony and "The Interview" and N. Korea Discussion

[Dan Dassow]

I don't retweet terribly often but this time I did.

Originally Posted by JMichael Straczynski
Yo, Sony, Instead of canning The Interview to satisfy terrorists, make it a free download available around the world. Especially Korea.

I was sorry to see that they caved. I understand it but...once upon a time, there'd already be lines for tickets after the threats made.

Jan

People are definitely interested in seeing this film, as evident by this IMDb poll in which The Interview (2014) is in third place.
Poll: Most Anticipated Film: Winter 2015 Edition

http://www.imdb.com/poll/dYP4sMaIzFU/results

IMDb's Movie Meter of rank of 62

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788710/

... and Google Trends also show a spike in interest.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=%2Fm%2F0ztkpwz

This film also has one of the most egregious examples of vote stuffing I've seen on IMDb:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788710/ratings?ref_=tt_ov_rt

Sony's decision to withdraw the film has set a dangerous precedence. Fringe groups now have the ability to shut down production, distribution and showing films they dislike by hacking the computer systems of film production companies and threatening patrons of theaters. In the long run providing the film online for free would have been the more prudent response.

My oldest daughter made a similar suggestion to me when Sony made the announcement. Shortly afterwards I heard a newscast that quoted Mitt Romney suggesting free download with a voluntary donation to a charity. Regardless of who suggested it, providing the film defeats the core reason these North Korean sponsored criminals / terrorists committed the crimes they have.

North Korea's internet infrastructure is extremely primitive for everyone in North Korea except for the vandals behind the attack and the North Korean elite. For this film to reach the North Korean masses, something akin to Radio Free Europe would have to broadcast the film 24/7 from multiple high power offshore television and radio transmitters on all of North Korea's channels.

[Looney]

My two cents is that I thought this was a bad idea they should have never run with in the first place.

I think it is really interesting how people are reacting. I don't know all the details. I am not even sure what the exact reason Sony gave is. I know the big theater chains dropped it because they are all about not being sued after the Dark Knight Rises attack. Once they dropped it there was little reason for Sony to keep pushing a theatrical release, but that doesn't explain the DVD/VOD announcement. Did the government of the United States ask Sony to pull the release? I mean I could see there being a point to people thinking we caved as a society if the government made it happen. If not then all we are likely witnessing is a corporation, that isn't even from this country, pulling a product because threats were made and they don't want to be sued if something happened. Yes it sickens me, but then I remember it is just a corporation that did this and they do things that sicken me everyday. Now if it were really something that we as a society had control over then I think I would be more outraged. And just because the Supreme Court says corporations are members of our society doesn't mean I have to accept it.

I do think it is great that it seems a good portion of our society is now demanding to see it, at least according to the ratio of people I know vs the total population. Maybe that is what is really happening. Maybe Sony wants to pump up the demand to guarantee it will make a mint? Or maybe they are still working on the disclaimer that will release them from any legal obligation in the event something happens? Or maybe the hackers have some even bigger information they are blackmailing Sony with? Or maybe this Japanese Corporation wants our population to show more outrage toward North Korea? I don't know what Sony's real reasoning is, but most likely it is what I said originally - fear of legal action.

Anyway, when you know someone likes to act crazy to don't provoke them. What has happened is disgusting, but I think we can take it much easier than if people ended up getting hurt. It is just a corporate product after all.

[DaveNarn]

I doubt this was a cyber attack by North Korea
The amount of stolen information and damage to Sony's email servers smells like an inside job. Knowledge of passwords and internal network infrastructure would have been needed.
This isn't the first time Sony has been attacked and I don' t remember North Korea taking the credit before.

The Interview trailer is up on youtube,
It's just a stoner movie picking on an easy target - meh

I thought Team America: World Police was much better.

[Jan]

Sony and "The Interview" and N. Korea Discussion

On Dec. 17, JMS tweeted:

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/545356172371320835

Yo, Sony, Instead of canning The Interview to satisfy terrorists, make it a free download available around the world. Especially Korea.

And

Oh, for crying out loud...now they're pulling Team America.

I'm moving the discussion down here so it can continue if folks want.

ETA: Looks like there may be at least a limited release:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/23/media/screening-the-interview/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Jan