Sony cancels the release of "The Interview"

[Tex Pro]

 

[Sonsowey]

Remember the movie Dr. Strangelove, where the U.S. accidentally nukes the USSR?

The USSR let us watch that movie.

 

[Drazen]

The theaters already have physical possession of the film and hard drives (for digital projector systems) containing the movie right? Why not just run it and say "fuck you Sony and Paramount".

Because they'll get sued if anything bad happens. One can't just base their business decisions on jingoism.

 

[turkishcandy]

What's with all this country talk?

A company decided to pull the movie, (assuming this isn't a marketing ploy) not the USA.

Imagine a government that is so inefecctive at protecting its country and people that private companies are compelled to give in to foreign terrorist threats.

 

[kaotic]

Possible False Flag to jump start legislation on the SOPA act ?

Or is that too Conspiracy Keanu ?

http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/12/18/48760/sony-hack-sophisticated-actor-behind-cyberattack-w/

Update 4:42 p.m. Google speaks out against MPAA anti-piracy/anti-Google efforts revealed in Sony hack

Google spoke out Thursday against efforts the Motion Picture Association of America, the film industry's lobbying group, was reportedly involved in trying to push an approach to combating piracy that was previously defeated legislatively — and, as part of that, attacking Google. The information about the MPAA, which represents studios including Sony, came out in information released by hackers from the Sony hack.

"We are deeply concerned about recent reports that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) led a secret, coordinated campaign to revive the failed SOPA legislation through other means," Google senior vice president and general counsel Kent Walker wrote in a blog post on Google's Public Policy Blog, "and helped manufacture legal arguments in connection with an investigation by Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood."

The Stop Online Piracy Act, aka SOPA, was a piece of congressional legislation that included provisions that would block websites seen as being involved with piracy. Google, citing statistics from an anti-SOPA nonprofit, notes that 115,000 sites participated in a protest against SOPA and that Congress received more than 8 million phone calls and 4 million emails regarding SOPA.

"One disappointing part of this story is what this all means for the MPAA itself, an organization founded in part 'to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists' right to free expression,'" Walker writes. "Why, then, is it trying to secretly censor the Internet?"

Google cites recent press reports coming out of the Sony hacks, making three points:
"The MPAA conspired to achieve SOPA’s goals through non-legislative means"

Google cites reporting from the Verge saying that the MPAA, in cooperation with six studios including Sony, joined together to try to revive SOPA. The plans involved convincing state prosecutors to go after Google, with each studio budgeting $500,000 for legal support and the MPAA seeking $1.175 million to use in these efforts.

The Verge reports that the leaked correspondence includes a code name for Google: "Goliath," with the efforts against Google and to achieve their anti-piracy goals named "Project Goliath." Like the Bible story of Goliath, they wrote depicting themselves as the David in this situation, taking Goliath down.
"The MPAA pointed its guns at Google"

Citing the New York Times, Google says that MPAA hired law firm Jenner & Block to attack Google, while also funding a nonprofit called "the Digital Citizens Alliance" to lead its efforts to combat Google.
"The MPAA did the legal legwork for the Mississippi State Attorney General"

The MPAA also reportedly pitched their plan to Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood, who was already a supporter of SOPA, Google says.

"Even though Google takes industry-leading measures in dealing with problematic content on our services, Attorney General Hood proceeded to send Google a sweeping 79-page subpoena, covering a variety of topics over which he lacks jurisdiction," Walker wrote in the Google blog post.

Google cites Hood telling the Huffington Post that the MPAA "has no major influence on my decision-making," while both the Post and the Verge report Hood had conversations with MPAA staff and attorneys from their law firm.

— Mike Roe/KPCC

Previously: 'Sophisticated actor' behind cyberattack, White House says

The White House said Thursday that evidence shows the hack against Sony Pictures was carried out by a "sophisticated actor" with "malicious intent," according to the Associated Press.

A number of media outlets citing anonymous sources — including NPR, The New York Times, NBC News and TIME magazine — have reported that U.S. intelligence officials are linking North Korea to the attack.

KPCC has not independently confirmed this information, and at least one media outlet claims the evidence against North Korea is flimsy at best.

Spokesman Josh Earnest declined to blame North Korea, saying he doesn't want to get ahead of investigations by the Justice Department and the FBI, according to AP.

Whoever was behind the studio hack has pulled off what one cybersecurity expert says may be the costliest ever for a U.S. company.

"This attack went to the heart and core of Sony's business and succeeded," Avivah Litan, an analyst with research firm Gartner, told AP. "We haven't seen any attack like this in the annals of U.S. breach history."

The attack prompted Sony to cancel the Christmas Day release of "The Interview," a comedy about an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after the hacker group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" threatened physical violence against moviegoers. Several theaters had already backed out of screening the film, and Sony subsequently said it had no further plans to release the movie.
The fallout

Fallout from the cyberattack and Sony's response to it continue to ripple across the entertainment industry.

Two more former employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment are suing the company over the leak of their personal information, bringing the number of lawsuits so far to three, AP reports. The suit was filed Wednesday and seeks class-action status for current and former Sony employees whose information was hacked from the company's servers:

Ella Carline Archibeque, accuses Sony of holding on to her medical info long after she left the company in 2009. Joshua Forster, a Denver resident, worked for the company in various roles from 2006 until February.

Meanwhile, Sony's decision to scrap showings of "The Interview" has prompted widespread criticism from celebrities within Hollywood.

Judd Apatow, the successful comedy filmmaker and frequent collaborator with "The Interview" star Seth Rogen, warned on Wednesday that "when a hacker threatens to shut down free speech, or a disgruntled employee threatens to shut down free speech, it sets a very dangerous precedent."

"Everything in our culture is not liked by somebody, and as soon as we say that we're going to shut it down just because someone posted something on the Internet, we're changing the world in a big way," Apatow said, speaking with The Frame's John Horn.

In a show of support for artistic freedom in Hollywood, a Dallas-area theater pledged to screen "Team America: World Police," a film that lampoons Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il.

AP reports:

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Richardson on Thursday advertised the Dec. 27 showing of "Team America" as a show of support for freedom. It says it marks the 10-year anniversary of the film by "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which featured a puppet version of Kim Jong Il as a singing, lonely villain.

However, the theater backpedaled Thursday, saying that Paramount decided not to offer the film, according to Deadline.

The content of leaked emails has also prompted calls for Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal to step down.

According to the Los Angeles Times, African American advocacy group ColorOfChange claims that more than 30,000 of its members have called on Pascal to be fired following the discovery of an email exchange, leaked in the cyberattack, in which she wonders what to talk to President Barack Obama about at an event:

"Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?" she wrote, referring to the film about a freed slave. Later in the exchange, Pascal wondered if she should ask Obama if he liked two other African American-focused films, "The Butler" and "Think Like a Man."

Pascal apologized last week, calling the comments “insensitive and inappropriate, but not an accurate reflection of who I am.”

Pascal was scheduled to meet with Rev. Al Sharpton Thursday morning in Manhattan after she called him to discuss the emails, according to the Times.

This story has been updated.

 

[Ensam]

Possible False Flag to jump start legislation on the SOPA act ?

Or is that too Conspiracy Keanu ?

Although I think something very fishy is up with this story I'm not sure how I can see the connection to it being good for the pro-SOPA people. My conspiracy mind goes to it being Google trying to fuck over Sony for supporting SOPA.

 

[samsamsam]

Obama clowned Sony for giving in. Also, called James Franco - James Flacco.

We need a meme with Amy Pascal getting fucked in the asshole by Kim whatever his name is. Because that is really what happened. And seriously, if you had the ability to break in and steal stuff, you are going to blow it on a frigging movie studio? Granted Sony's security seemed weak, but why not a defense contractor? This is embarrassing for everyone involved.

 

[Easy E]

HACKERS TO SONY: If You Make Any More Trouble, We'll Destroy You

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-sony-more-trouble-well-154609075.html

 

[Drazen]

HACKERS TO SONY: If You Make Any More Trouble, We'll Destroy You

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-sony-more-trouble-well-154609075.html

If this was the endgame for the hackers, its in their best interest to keep to their word to give their organization credibility in extortion.

 

[Kingsley Davis]

Obama clowned Sony for giving in. Also, called James Franco - James Flacco.

We need a meme with Amy Pascal getting fucked in the asshole by Kim whatever his name is. Because that is really what happened. And seriously, if you had the ability to break in and steal stuff, you are going to blow it on a frigging movie studio? Granted Sony's security seemed weak, but why not a defense contractor? This is embarrassing for everyone involved.

Add Al "Charlatan" to the list tagging Pascal.

"A criminal hack exposed a racist email exchange between Sony co-Chair Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, and now humiliation tour has begun. Thursday Pascal met with MSNBC’s Al Sharpton. If she was looking for absolution, she didn’t get it. After the 90 minute meeting in Manhattan, Sharpton went before the media and announced that “the jury is still out on where we go.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollyw...al-meets-with-al-sharpton-over-racist-emails/

 

[turuk]

Probably the Chineez

 

[Feisbook Control]

LOL the Taiwanese depiction of American women at 0:23.

 

[Darius]

What's with all this country talk?

A company decided to pull the movie, (assuming this isn't a marketing ploy) not the USA.

Imagine a government that is so inefecctive at protecting its country and people that private companies are compelled to give in to foreign terrorist threats.

Sony isn't American, it's international and was originally Japanese. It's also a public company not a private one.

It seems quite a stretch to blame the american government for this.

 

[turkishcandy]

What's with all this country talk?

A company decided to pull the movie, (assuming this isn't a marketing ploy) not the USA.

Imagine a government that is so inefecctive at protecting its country and people that private companies are compelled to give in to foreign terrorist threats.

Sony isn't American, it's international and was originally Japanese. It's also a public company not a private one.

It seems quite a stretch to blame the american government for this.

The threats are against America. It's the American government who can (not) counter the threats and protect the first amendment. It's not the weakness of the Japanese government that is the issue here. I don't think it's a stretch.

 

[Beyond Borders]

Am I the only one who thinks that Hollywood should pull the punches in matters that can strain international relations?

Sure, nobody like this dictator, and in this case I think that's channeling the direction of public opinion, but America is full of little hipster punks who think they can say anything they want about anyone and be as blatantly disrespectful as possible, hiding behind their accepting culture and big movie budgets in cases like these, and then when other cultures get offended we ridicule them and act as if everyone on the planet needs to step in line with our anything goes mentality. Rather than us recognizing that a lot of different cultures take the concept of face very seriously and will go to war over disrespectful gestures, coming from the government or not.

Bottom line is that the guys making this movie thought they could talk shit about someone without reprecussion and hide behind their government. The North Koreans made it clear that the fight would come directly to them and that their actions would have consequences - end result, they wisened the fuck up and decided to shut their traps.

I'm not a supporter of North Korea, and I'm certainly not saying there shouldn't be room to criticize its dictator, but blowing that load on childish comedies is not the place to do it and not worth the effort. Choose your battles, as they say. I think showing some respect for people in power, whether you like them and their actions or not, is a far wiser course of action to take.

If their actions are so heinous as to require our intervention, then we need to set our mouths shut in determination and proceed with action. Not have our clownish jesters nip at their heels from behind safe borders, further soiling the already-damaged American reputation.

These jabs from behind the protection of distance and culture and freedom of speech, without thought to the tensions they create, are ridiculous and cowardly. As much so as slinking away with their tail between their legs when shit gets real. I would slink away as well, but I wouldn't start such a bitch-made fight to begin with. Our movie industry constantly makes a mockery of other cultures and governments, and in this case they were called out.

Whether you condone the behavior of the terrorists or not - or whether you find their own methods cowardly or not - that's essentially what went down. They got a taste of the real world beyond the pampered life of Hollywood.

Freedom of speech may be a right (in our country), but it's also a responsibility. Case in point - you have the right to walk up to me and call me a faggot. It may be illegal for me to respond by socking you in your teeth, but it very well may not stop me from doing so, and you have to live with the consequences of your words should you take a gamble and find that I'm willing to break the law.

So a guy with half a head of common sense would keep his opinion to himself for the time being (assuming he wasn't confident he could tie me in a pretzel). I think we all know how we'd feel about the guy who hid behind his bigger buddies and called me a faggot anyways.

That guy is Hollywood and I for one think they could use a bit of humbling.

As for our government, if I was in a position of power, I would see this as a fight not worth fighting and yank on a few strings to get the people behind the movie to shut her down if possible. It's the sensible course of action in this case and has nothing to do with being cowardly. America has already shown it is not yet interested in taking on North Korea, perhaps because of Big Brother China, and this certainly isn't the incident that's going to throw the reasoning behind that decision out the window.

 

[Beyond Borders]

Of course, to expand on the above, there's always the possibility that someone in power did pull strings to get the project going in the first place to illicit what they knew would be an irrational reaction of some type. These guys are a lot smarter than me, so who knows. The whole entire thing could be an underhanded act of provocation.

Neener-neener-neener.

 

[TigerMandingo]

An interesting thing is Americans can't take a joke. Whenever there's a foreign movie/tv show that makes fun of them or criticizes an aspect of their culture, it's automatically labelled anti-Americanism and whatnot. And yet, Hollywood movies are full of trollish, foreign-bashing material.Just think of how Russians are portrayed in the movies or Italians.

I was cracking up when they had Denzel Washington's character being targeted by the "Russian mafia" in Training Day. Really?

 

[Sourcecode]

 

[Kissinger2014]

I actually liked Mitt Romney's idea: Sony should stream it for free online and ask everyone to voluntarily donate $5 to fight Ebola.

The fact that some theaters had physical copies of the movie means it's going to get out eventually. The question is whether Sony will get any profit and/or good will for its release.

 

[TheSlayer]

The people blaming it on the American government or the US as a country need to realize that the hackers completely demolished Sony. They have all their payroll information, all the internal records of communications between the execs, and god knows what other secrets. I am surprised people are missing this part. I believe Sony execs are hiding behind "terrorist threats" excuse because the hackers probably have some really good (bad for the company) dirt on them. Think about it, their entire systems were compromised, information, trade secrets, future strategies/tactics, and so much corporate information was stolen. I am sure behind the scenes the hackers told them if you release this movie we will put up all this information on the web Wikileaks style. That's the real reason for the shelving of this movie, not because "the government is weak" or the execs/cinema owners are worried about terrorist attacks.

Unless the hackers have something incriminating on the company, Sony should get its shit together, bolster its online security and stream the movie for $10 per view. Hell even I would pay that and stream it. This should be used as an opportunity by Sony to bypass the middleman (theaters) and try-out a new business model. Make movies and stream them online for a modest amount. Going to the movies is not even that cheap anymore if you buy popcorn/snacks and the tickets alone are $12-$13 for regular (non-IMAX) screenings in Canada.