I'm sure you have heard by now of the hacking of the e-mail accounts of Sony. Supposedly it was done to prevent the release of their new comedy about the assassination of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. The hackers, believed to be North Korean, threatened to expose the Sony e-mails and to attack theaters who showed the picture. Sony backed down and said they would not release the movie in any way (theaters, television, DVD, etc.).
I expect Sony officials thought most people would think they were taking a responsible position by refusing to release the picture. They were wrong -- at least in the United States. Only about 30% agree with Sony's decision, while a majority of Americans (54%) disagreed. These people considered it an act of cowardice to give in to the hackers -- and an act that would just encourage more hacking and threats in the future.
Stung by the public reaction, and probably finally realizing that the movie is going to come out anyway somewhere, somehow, Sony now says they are reconsidering their decision and are "surveying alternatives" to a theater release. They are trying to cover their cowardice by saying it was never their decision, but the decision of theaters not to screen the movie. That's a crock though, since their original statement was not to release it in any form.
They may also have realized that the hullabaloo over the movie has now insured it will probably be a hit -- no matter how it is released. The best way to insure that people will want to see a movie (or read a book) is to ban that movie (or book). Then people will flock to it to see what all the ruckus over it was all about. And that seems to be happening now. About 26% of the population now says they will be more likely now to go see the movie (see chart below).
These charts were made from information in a new Rasmussen Poll -- done on December 18th and 19th of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, with a margin of error of 3 points.
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It now seems that North Korea is the victim of retaliation. The internet in that country has been attacked by someone. President of CloudFlare, Matthew Prince said:
"It's as if North Korea got erased from the global map of the Internet."
And he went on to say:
"If it is an attack, it's highly unlikely it's the United States. More likely it's a 15-year-old in a Guy Fawkes mask."
I'm not sure I believe that. I think it could well have been a retaliation by our government (although I'm sure they would never admit it even if it was). What do you think?
