Sony in a No Win Situation

The other day, Sony Pictures America decided to pull the movie, The Interview, completely.  No theatrical release, no dvd release, etc. etc.


Sony is getting a lot of flack for this decision.  "Cowardice" is a word I have come across a lot when reading people's reaction.


As a result of this "incident," Sony gets a lot of bad press, loses money, and the corporation gets called a coward.


But when Sony made the decision, this was probably the lesser of two evils. 


What if Sony decided to go ahead and release the film anyway?


And one or more "terrorist-like" attacks took place and some fatalities took place. Then what?


Not only would Sony not hear the end of it, they would be burdened with so many lawsuits that it would not only cripple Sony Pictures, but perhaps the parent company.


I could hear it now, "Everybody knew about the threats and they went ahead anyway."


Sony was damned because it didn't, but would have been really damned if they did and something happened. 


What really puzzles me is that the emotions seem to be displaced here.  People seem to be more outraged at Sony for being hacked, than at North Korea for doing the hacking.


All boiled down, Sony is the victim of a crime.  An international one at that.  It's kind of like blaming a robbery victim for walking down a desolate street at night.  Sure, the victim could have taken more precautions, but does a victim's vulnerability make a criminal act against him/her acceptable?  No, it does not.


Then, there is the question of who?  Depending on who is behind this, should determine how we, as a nation should respond.


If it were one or a group of individuals, then this is a matter for law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice. 


However, what if it was State sponsored?  Then, it is not a crime against an individual or entity of the United States, but an act of war against the nation of the United States.  Just because it wasn't an attack on a military installation like Pearl Harbor, or Fort Sumter, doesn't make it less so. 


I've gone a little off-topic here.  Disappointed as I am in Sony for bowing to the hacker's demands, I would hate to have to think how I would have reacted had Sony decided to release the film and lives were lost as a result.







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