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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Hackers and Conspiracies

A few people have asked me about my opinion of the Sony hack, the Interview, and the prospect that we may be in the beginning stages of a Cyber War with North Korea. I don't really have an opinion, as such. So, I'll offer my version of a conspiracy theory as a response.

Here it is:

It is no secret that Sony has a history of being hacked. It is no secret that the bilge that Hollywood is generating isn't putting butts in seats like it used to. It's no secret that the big movie stars make a ton of money. So, if you were the CEO of Sony (the one in Japan, not the one here who made inappropriate e-mail comments about our President), what would you do if you were hemorrhaging money, had a horribly sophomoric/moronic movie that would likely not break even, and wanted to cut a few stars loose? Blame North Korea.

Maybe someone hacked Sony, maybe they didn't. Blaming North Korea means no one will know for sure. That's beside the point now. With the on-again / off-again release notices about the Interview, the media has assured us that it's our patriotic duty to go out and see this film ("up yours Kim!"). With this duty in mind, Sony will reap much better revenues on this film that it ever would have with a "normal" release. Win - Sony.

The "hard to work with" hollywood stars will also have their incomes readjusted. They'll also get to cut a bit of dead weight at the top of Sony US corporate with the release of a few e-mails to the media. Win - Sony.

There'll be a few settlements of law suits, but now Sony is the "victim" of the dreaded North Koreans.  How can you blame the victim? Win - Sony.

I'm sorry if this seems like a B-Movie screenplay, but it all seems too convenient.

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