A really stupid move - Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony is caving to a bunch of hackers who threatened violence. From FOX News:

Sony’s surrender will strengthen hackers, experts say
Sony’s shock decision to scrap the Dec. 25 release of its controversial movie “The Interview” will strengthen hackers, experts warn, fueling debilitating cyberattacks on other high-profile firms.

Still reeling from a crippling Nov. 24 hack, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced Wednesday that it had canceled “The Interview’s” Christmas Day release after a number of movie chains said that they would not show the film. “The Interview,” which pokes fun at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is believed to have prompted last month’s devastating attack on the studio and subsequent threats to movie theaters.

A bit more:

“Capitulation to cyber extortion will incentivize other actors to achieve political gains via cyber intrusions and threats,” Sean Doherty, president of security firm TSC Advantage, told FoxNews.com, in an email. “This situation is not dissimilar to what we’ve seen with kidnapping situations, where paying ransoms to terrorists and criminal actors has increased the threat to potential victims.”

Nir Polak, CEO of big data security company Exabeam, agrees. “Sony's capitulation to these government-sponsored attackers means, in this case, they've allowed another government to censor freedom of expression,” he explained, in an email to FoxNews.com. “This sets a bad precedent.”

“It looks like the North Koreans have been able to intimidate [Sony] into buckling under, and that’s a big thing,” added Roger Kay, president of research firm Endpoint Technologies. “It’s a big loss of face for Sony, quite frankly.”

Another perfect example of how critical decisions made at the top of a corporate food-chain are almost always wrong. If I were head of Sony, I would do this:

Sony makes it's money by taking a percentage of the ticket sales. Sony and its distributors take about 70% of the gate (this is why popcorn is so expensive). I would take the usual 70% but rebate $700 per screen in cash to the theater owners for them to hire three armed guards for each screening. I would make it the theater owners' (not corporate) decision whether or not to screen the film.

Problem solved...

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on December 18, 2014 10:17 PM.

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