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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInterview: George Clooney Explains Why Sony Stood Alone In North Korean Cyberterror Attack
http://deadline.com/2014/12/george-clooney-sony-hollywood-cowardice-north-korea-cyberattack-petition-1201329988/<snip>
DEADLINE: How could this have happened, that terrorists achieved their aim of cancelling a major studio film? We watched it unfold, but how many people realized that Sony legitimately was under attack?
GEORGE CLOONEY: A good portion of the press abdicated its real duty. They played the fiddle while Rome burned. There was a real story going on. With just a little bit of work, you could have found out that it wasnt just probably North Korea; it was North Korea. The Guardians Oof Peace is a phrase that Nixon used when he visited China. When asked why he was helping South Korea, he said it was because we are the Guardians of Peace. Here, were talking about an actual country deciding what content were going to have. This affects not just movies, this affects every part of business that we have. Thats the truth. What happens if a newsroom decides to go with a story, and a country or an individual or corporation decides they dont like it? Forget the hacking part of it. You have someone threaten to blow up buildings, and all of a sudden everybody has to bow down. Sony didnt pull the movie because they were scared; they pulled the movie because all the theaters said they were not going to run it. And they said they were not going to run it because they talked to their lawyers and those lawyers said if somebody dies in one of these, then youre going to be responsible.
We have a new paradigm, a new reality, and were going to have to come to real terms with it all the way down the line. This was a dumb comedy that was about to come out. With the First Amendment, youre never protecting Jefferson; its usually protecting some guy whos burning a flag or doing something stupid. This is a silly comedy, but the truth is, what it now says about us is a whole lot. We have a responsibility to stand up against this. Thats not just Sony, but all of us, including my good friends in the press who have the responsibility to be asking themselves: What was important? What was the important story to be covering here? The hacking is terrible because of the damage they did to all those people. Their medical records, that is a horrible thing, their Social Security numbers. Then, to turn around and threaten to blow people up and kill people, and just by that threat alone we change what we do for a living, thats the actual definition of terrorism.
DEADLINE: Ive been chasing the story of the petition you were circulating for a week now. Where is it, and how were these terrorists able to isolate Sony from the herd and make them so vulnerable?
CLOONEY: Heres the brilliant thing they did. You embarrass them first, so that no one gets on your side. After the Obama joke, no one was going to get on the side of Amy, and so suddenly, everyone ran for the hills. Look, I cant make an excuse for that joke, it is what it is, a terrible mistake. Having said that, it was used as a weapon of fear, not only for everyone to disassociate themselves from Amy but also to feel the fear themselves. They know what they themselves have written in their emails, and theyre afraid.
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ChazII
(6,198 posts)If this picture or Team America were to be released I would be one of the first in line.
Response to ChazII (Reply #1)
99Forever This message was self-deleted by its author.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)... you and your pals at the Japanize Sony Corporation do your thing, with your own warriors on your dime.
Have at it.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)satellite imagery to observe and report human rights abuses in Sudan that were being ignored by the world at large. So taking large and unusually expensive steps to solve problems is not exactly outside his parameters. And any implication that he desires military responses is an unfounded and rotten allegation. And Sony is owned by the Japanese. Did you get your spelling from FR?
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)We gotz r speelin kop on dootie.
Logical
(22,457 posts)abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)That's why Sony canceled. Also, not actually even a very good movie. Destined to not do well against the other movies slated to be released at the same time. Still sad that the hackers appear to win.
ChazII
(6,198 posts)That is why and the only reason why I would go to see either of these movies. It would be my way of giving the finger to the hackers. It would be my way of telling the them go to h*ll and I won't cave to their threats. For what it is worth, I did attend a presentation where there was a bomb threat.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)Think plenty of others share that feeling too.
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)We need to stop that shit -- that everything we don't like is "terror."
And threatening terror only means something if the person threatening has the means and ability to carry it out. I can threaten to pee in the punchbowl at the White House Christmas party, but since I wasn't even invited, the likelihood of my being able to do that is less than zero.
Sony had a crappy IT security stance. They had been hacked numerous times before. And still Sony execs were writing embarrassing emails like they were middle school kids.
Everyone just needs to get a freaking grip.
If you want a sane discussion of the issue, read an interview with cybersecurity expert Peter Singer.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/reaction-to-the-sony-hack-is-beyond-the-realm-of-stupid
"Reaction to the Sony Hack is Beyond the Realm of Stupid"
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)It's blackmail and extortion.
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)We need to stop throwing that word around at anything we don't like. This is a police matter, not a matter of national security.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)I would imagine people are working to figure out exactly who and where this came from.
lancer78
(1,495 posts)just didn't want their Dick Pics exposed. That is why they cancelled the movie.