Sony Hacked By North Korea
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/17/north-korea-sony-hack/20558135/
This isn't the only article about the hack but this one is a pretty good summary of what has happened so far. If you are interested in more or other details just Google "Sony Hack" and sit back and enjoy.
Sony was set to release the film "The Interview" on Christmas but has canceled the release due to terrorist type threats and also their company's database was hacked and had over 100 terabytes of data stolen with much of that content being leaked. US officials have linked this hack to North Korea and blame them for the cyber-attack. "The Interview" is a movie about American talk show hosts who score a interview with the leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un and are asked by the CIA when they interview Kim Jong Un if they will assassinate him. North Korea was appalled at the spectacle of a movie like that being released so they hacked the Sony database stealing private information like people's personal information, emails, social security number, and scripts of movies Sony yet plans to release and leaked a good chunk. They also issued threats to Sony saying that if they go ahead with the release of this movie. So Sony almost being held hostage gave into the demands of the terrorists.
There are many angles to look at this with many issues at hand with even more reactions and actions that could've, should've, would've been different. But to keep the content more concentrated and restricted to context that this is for a AP Government class I'll keep my comments more directed towards that. While I do not support exactly what's in the movie I do respect the right that Sony holds under the constitution that they are allowed to say it and release it. Like what Voltaire said "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." North Korea obviously has more restrictions and different laws concerning freedom of speech but however, Sony is not in North Korea or any part of their jurisdiction and should not have to suffer something this serious which is projected going to lose Sony of a half a billion dollars. There is an extreme invasion of freedom of speech and also privacy and it should not be ignored by anyone especially our government. With our own government's faults too in the past, it it not one's country responsibility or does it retain any kind of right to command or force another country to act, believe, or behave in a certain manner. Yes, what Sony did was extremely unethical and disturbing but if North Korea released a movie about assassinating Obama tomorrow it would freak me out and I would never support or watch it but I would not complain about their right to do so.
I fail to see how there is anything even remotely unethical about what Sony did. It certainly wasn't intelligent to write a movie making fun of the dictator of one of the nation's largest enemies, but neither was it unethical. Yes, it would be freaky to see a movie about assassinating Obama, but nothing Sony did could be called unethical. By releasing this movie Sony violated no intellectual property laws. They thought for themselves. It is entirely within their rights to do whatever they want with that movie; on that I agree with you. Censorship is never acceptable. But nothing they did was unethical in any way. Just poorly thought out.
ReplyDelete-Liam Brookhart
P.S. On the other hand, they sure got a lot of attention for this fiasco. I wouldn't be surprised if they find themselves with a substantially larger audience than projected.
Alan Kitchen
ReplyDeleteI agree with Liam that what the Sony did wasn't really unethical. I think for the most part this was just meant to be a movie. There have been plenty of past movies that make fun of and discriminate specific people and races. I think North Korea took this as a big insult when they should have just ignored it.
Was what Sony did legal? yes. Was what they did an exercise of freedom of speech? yes. Does that mean that it was ethical? No. It's out of line to make a movie such as that and unethical but still legal.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure you really understand what ethics means. No copyright laws were broken. No competition was brutally but legally smashed underfoot. Nobody cheated or stole anything. As a matter of fact, no laws were broken at all. I understand that legality and morality are not inherently identical, but nothing that Sony did was unethical, except possibly continuing to play the movie after the president requested they not do so. Even that is VERY borderline. Perhaps it was out of line, but nothing they did could be readily called unethical. Here's a thought for you: if movies about assassinating heads of state are unethical, why do we enjoy watching movies about the assassinations of, say, Abraham Lincoln? Why is it better that the assassination actually DID occur? Nothing Sony Pictures did is unethical. Nothing. Please explain precisely why you feel that the actions of Sony Pictures were unethical, as opposed to simply unintelligent.
ReplyDelete-Liam B.
I'm curious, what in the movie don't you support? I don't really support it either but just out of personal curiosity. Also, do you think it's an inside job or that North Korea really did do it? The CIA has stood pretty firmly that they infect, did hack Sony.
ReplyDeleteI just read an article today. It was about how the FBI did some investigating and found that the hacking was coming from the area of North Korea, but had nothing to do with the government officials there.
ReplyDeleteI think that with every comedy there will be people who find it funny and some that find it offensive. It was legal for Sony to make a production like this but IMO it was a very stupid thing to do considering it was aimed at a dictator that hates us a lit already.
ReplyDeleteLiam that's not was ethics are. Ethics is relating to moral principles and what's right or wrong and good or bad. It's unethical because it's just messed up to make a movie about assassinating a human being in a comical manner. I haven't seen or heard one movie that's comical about assassinating Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteAnd with recent evidence and also with more thought going into it, it does seem hard to believe that North Korea did this. But the FBI still believes it's them and I just hope it's not something we use to get after another nation.
ReplyDelete