The SONY Story That Has Become So Much More

Not too long ago, SONY announced that they were cancelling the worldwide release of the movie The Interview. And it is kind of scary that this happened.



A lot of people are acting like America was backing down from North Korea. What people should understand is that there's a difference between SONY, a private company, and America as a whole. I do agree and believe, in this case, the hackers seemingly have won. And I agree with Senator John McCain that says this SONY decision sets a troubling precedent. Adding:



But then he also turned it into a way to bash the White House and try to get elected for something saying:





...and then it continues for a while.

President Obama on the other hand gave an interview where he said — and I'll just quote him rather than dropping the link to playing the clip because he pauses for so long, lol — and he starts off by saying "When I first came into office, I said hackers were a big deal, both state, sponsored and rogue. That we needed to defend ourselves. But with this specific case...





...and at the end of the day, what we have is somehow, this most likely stupid stoner comedy that (I probably would've enjoyed in some way) has made everything high stakes! The US government thinks that North Korea is centrally involved — which could be seen as more than cyber warfare against SONY, but as cyber warfare against America because those movies and Hollywood in general make money for America.

Hollywood in general is going to be fearful to make anything about this country but that also opens it up to anyone else that is possibly touching an issue that could be sensitive. I mean, according to new reports, very silently, Steve Carell's North Korea movie has been cancelled.



That makes you wonder what's the next thing, where does it stop?

Like I said in my last blog post (concerning SONY), I understand from a business point of view why SONY would make this decision. Everything around them is blowing up. The last thing you want to be is actually be held responsible — even if it's just in the public thought.

If one stupid crazy person decided to go try and take out a movie theater on Christmas, people would victim blame like crazy saying that "They warned her!", "They got these threats and they still released the movie! Gosh! They did it probably because they're greedy! It's a movie that makes money! How dare they!"

And it is a kind of scary thought that if North Korea is in fact behind it. A place that controls their people. What they consume. What they can do. Did so, to a foreign country, by attacking a foreign company.




That's why I love — despite all of this — human rights activists of Fighters for a Free North Korea, run by a former government propagandist who escaped to South Korea. As for years used balloons to get transistor radios, DVDs and other items into North Korea, and they now plan to do that with DVDs of The Interview.



And of course the stats vary, but it is believed that 76% of North Koreans own a TV, and 46% of them own a DVD player. And just by watching this stupid stoner comedy, it is an act of standing up to this totalitarian government. Watching a film there, especially this film, is something you can be executed for! It's believed that in 2014, this happened to 80 people! And somehow, this stupid movie could become this huge, silent rebellion.

I guess the principal point I want to get across is: Kim Jong-un, go fuck yourself, go fuck your dead daddy, and also, go fuck your dead granddaddy!!!

Censorship

Video games have always been an easy target for censorship, even moreso than movies. And of course, recently, Grand Theft Auto V was in the news again because of its re-release.



But now, there's another video game in the news this week, or rather last week (today's Sunday). A video game called Hatred.



Hatred is an indie game developed by Polish developer, Destructive Creations. It was recently pulled by Greenlight a section of Steam that Valve uses to gauge community interests in software and video games.

And it appears the reason for this is the game is that you take over a character that's on a genocide crusade where [quote]:



The description for the game reading:



So Steam pulls the game, Doug Lombardi of Valve says, “Based on what we’ve seen on Greenlight we would not publish Hatred on Steam. As such we’ll be taking it down.”



Destructive Creations then responds:



The newest update after all of this is the game is back on Steam.

According to Destructive Creations, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell apologized in an email he posted on Facebook.



The email read:



And how it breaks down for me is that Hatred as a game seems disgusting. It appears to glorify mass murderers who commit terrible atrocities. Much of it seems to be gore for the sake of gore.






And it is very likely I will not get this game. But at the same time, I get Valve bringing it back. They don't have to; they appeared to be under no legal obligation. They are a private company. But at what point are you going to tell grown adults what they can and can't have?

A child who this game is not intended for, yes, will end up getting this game but that is not the fault of the developer. And even the best equipped parents can't keep everything from their kids.

Personally, as an adult, I can tell the difference between video games and the real world. I've opened fire on people in public, in GTA V. I've just killed people doing their job and going about their daily lives, in Far Cry 4. I saw a beautiful, majestic bear by itself in The Wilderness, and I shot it with a goddamn rocket launcher! There's a difference between video game me and real me, and anytime someone says I — an adult who is not a stupid, stupid, crazy person — cannot have something because a decision has been made and it's very reactionary, it's stupid. Don't treat me like a child.

Also, there will always be that kind of person that will want to just kill people!

Games, like any form of entertainment or art are meant to tell a story. It's not always a good story. It's not always a dark story. It puts you more in the driver's seat than other forms of media. But that's my opinion. And yes, inevitably, when there is another school shooting, that shooter might have actually played this game. That hasn't stopped the media or anyone else saying that video games — other video games that are far or less violent than this one — cause something.

SONY and The Interview

We've talked about the hacks. We've talked about the threats. We've talked about the lawsuits. And now, what we have, are a lot of people abandoning ship. Tuesday night, SONY said that because of the threats from the hackers, there will be some sort of violent retribution; they would not object if theaters pulled the movie. And the theaters responded with "Err, I don't know, I mean, we're kind of on the... yeah, we'll definitely not show that movie."

Carmike Cinemas which is in 41 states said they're not going to show it.



The premiere in New York City has been cancelled.

Out there in California, we have ArcLight Cinemas. They have said that they would like to not show it.



Neither will Bow Tie Cinemas.



And it really wouldn't shock me if more and more cinemas join this list.

The big thing to note though, is the movie is still scheduled for December 25th, so, on Christmas, people will be able to go see it if there's a theater in the area that has decided not to remove it.

And from a business standpoint, I get it. If you get a threat, whether it is credible or not, because this is so high-profile, even if you don't believe that the hackers would do something; if anyone went out on their own to a theater that did show this movie and something happened, a lot of people — rather than just blaming the people that orchestrated the attack — would blame SONY, and more specifically the theater because they were warned. They give it as 'victim blaming' on a corporate level.

Also, the decision's probably made easier for theaters because the movie's getting beaten up in reviews, so it's not like they're withholding this piece of art.

So, theaters may just count their chips and go "There's a lot of new movies coming out near and on Christmas, so maybe we just stay away from this."

But, with the theaters doing this, you can also see this is a victory for fear. It's a comedy now that had no real political message so they just thought it'd be funny to make people angry.

But what's the next thing? There's so many people angry at SONY for not protecting themselves. People seem to forget that they were broken into and that other people released this information. Not to mention that even if these hackers had no intention to do anything, they've given any crazy person that wants to do anything whatsoever, a grand scale to do something on.

The Attack That Happened in Pakistan Tuesday

If you haven't heard, at least 141 people are dead and at least 132 of them were children.



The attack was on the Peshawar school. Reportedly, 7 attackers went into the school gaining access by wearing military uniforms. Eye witness reports saying the men had explosive vests and they didn't appear to take any hostages but instead started firing indiscriminately when they entered the school.

All 7 of the attackers are dead and the Taliban has taken credit for this massacre. We also have an alleged Taliban commander telling the media why children were targeted. Saying:



Another quote referencing that this attack is just the trailer (for further attacks).

And while it should be noted that there are huge casualties here, it is actually not that rare for the Taliban to attack schools. Reportedly, in the past 5 years, over 1,000 Pakistani schools have been attacked by the Taliban. That has included people opening fire on school buses, throwing grenades into playgrounds. And this is the enemy! An enemy that fears education! An enemy that fears not being ignorant!

You attack a school of children?! Even Afghan Taliban has condemned Pakistani Taliban! Saying:



You attack children because you are not men! You attack schools and education because you know those who are educated, those who are not living under and denser than a rock will not believe in your cause!

It all boils down to this constant reminder that there's this kind of evil out there in the world. And we can either choose to be terrified or scared, and that turns into general, overall hate. Or, it can be this thing that brings us together against this very evil, in a black and white sort of sense, way.

But, ultimately, like everything else, we'll see.

Some More SONY News

SONY's getting railed every which way. The main kill scene for The Interview has leaked.



The group that hacked SONY has now made terror threats. Saying that anyone that goes to watch the movie that weekend, or, is just in that general area, you should probably leave and not go — referencing September 11th.

And now, SONY is being sued by their own employees, current and past.



A class-action lawsuit alleging that it failed to protect their confidential information by ignoring warnings of their weak computer system.



In the 45-page complaint, it says that SONY failed to secure its computer systems, servers and databases, despite weaknesses that it has known about for years.



This, because not only were there all those emails, but it had employee criminal background checks, salary negotiations, performance evaluations, compensation reports, personal employee files, doctors letters explaining the medical reason for leaves of absences, and of course 47,000 social security numbers.



So not a super happy fun time if you're SONY.

Sydney Siege

Last Sunday, a gunman who has since been identified took 17 hostages. This happened at a Lindt Chocolate Factory in Sydney.



The hostages were held for 16 hours. During that time, many hostages were forced to stand in the shop windows and hold flags with messages reading “There is no God but Allah",



and "Mohammed is the prophet of God”.



Although, several news agencies reported that this was an ISIS flag and that ISIS was doing this.

During this time, at least 6 hostages escaped.



And on Monday (the next day), after 16 hours, police activated what they called an emergency action plan and stormed the café in the middle of the night.



There was a brief firefight which resulted in 3 deaths, which included the 50-year-old gunman, a 34-year-old man, and a 38-year-old woman.





2 women and 1 police officer were also hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries.



And after all this there are a few things I want to say:

1. To the man behind this, whose picture I will not show, I will say your name one time, Haron Monis, fuck you, I'm glad you're dead. He was a man who was charged with 50 counts of indecent exposure and sexual assault. And as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife who was stabbed and lit on fire in Sydney last year.



He was also convicted of sending offensive letters to the family members of dead soldiers.

And I hate this man! I don't hate all Muslims or any group of people that just happen to also have something in sync with this man.

It made me sad that as soon as this situation happened, Muslim leaders had to brace for violence. It made me happy but also very sad that the hashtag #illridewithyou even had to be a thing.



A hashtag where Sydney commuters volunteered to ride by Muslim side to make sure they were safe. That makes about as much sense as hating all Christians, or people that believe in Christianity; because someone from that group bombed an abortion clinic.

These outliers are the worst. There are people that agree with them but know those few do not speak or act for the many. The many who want peace, not death. The many who promote the good of all people; who can look at the situation and feel for the hostages, those who went through this and were killed; who agree this is a travesty, it's terrible, it cannot stand. So many people are united by that anger, and this despair.

And it's on that note that I'm going to end this topic.

New Information About the SONY Hack

If you haven't seen the news anywhere, essentially, SONY was hacked by a group that's definitely not North Korea. Or actually, may not be North Korea.



And these hackers got a lot of information but the main thing I've seen in the news recently are just these big emails. Emails where these big movie execs were talking crap on directors who were talking crap on actors.

And there's still stuff constantly being posted. Even the group that did the hack said they were working on releasing a really big Christmas present.

So, all of this is happening but what are people saying?

Aaron Sorkin, who of course just ended his series: The Newsroom, wrote an op–ed in the New York Times where he said that he gets the hacker group — they did this for reason — but the media that is still posting this information, they're doing it for a nickel.



Essentially saying that these hackers, they have a cause, they have a purpose, while the media is just a whored out version of its former self.



SONY Pictures Entertainment told certain news organizations to stop publishing information containing documents stolen by hackers who have hacked the movie studio's computer network.



Also, according to The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter,



and Variety...



...they have each received a letter from David Boies an attorney for SONY, demanding that the outlets stop reporting information contained in the documents and immediately destroy them. Saying the studio "does not consent to your possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading, or making any use" of the information.





And then we had director (of SONY) Judd Apatow who tweeted:



Really, that tweet rubbed me the wrong way. Lol, I get what Judd Apatow is saying. I like Judd Apatow. What you're saying is essentially you have this widget, this thing that's the property of one or two people, and someone broke in, against the will of the owner of the widget, took the widget, and put it out there, against the will of the original owner of those things, and that person took that private thing and made it public, without, at the very least, the consent of the widget's owner. In that way, it is very much the same thing. But, I also ask the question, is it really???

I'm not saying that you're so off base like it's the difference between actual rape and when a 12-year-old boy screams that he's raping me when I'm playing FIFA 15. But I am saying that it is kind of along the same thing as someone scoring a bicycle-kick goal in the Premier League and me saying that's just like when I scored a bicycle-kick goal in middle school, during PE, playing sand soccer.

There is a difference between reporting a bunch of rich people talking crap on each other, and me actually having seen a picture of Judd Apatow's butthole. They're both private but there's a difference between looking like an asshole and seeing someone's asshole. But, you're still kind of right, and I give it to you that it's hard to get a full point in 140 characters or less.

And with all that typed, what are your thoughts on this? I'd love to know your thoughts.