The embarrassing cyber attack of Sony Pictures Entertainment exposed everything from salary figures to leaked feature films to combative emails revealing seemingly racist remarks at the highest level of the company.
As the story still dominates industry publications and also keeps feeding some mainstream media, the company is now fighting back the only way it can – by demanding that news reports about information revealed in the hacking incident be halted.
The attack – which was claimed by a group called the Guardians of Peace – is widely believed to have been ordered by North Korea to punish the movie studio for producing the comedy The Interview. The film stars James Franco and Seth Rogen as reporters who set up an interview with the North Korean dictator, and the real-life Kim Jong-un and his government had spoken out vigorously against the film.
On Monday, Sony sent a strong letter to various media outlets demanding they stop reporting on the hack and delete all leaked information.
The letter – issued by Sony attorney David Boies, states that Sony Pictures “does not consent to your possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading, or making any use of the stolen information.” It also requests that outlets destroy any of the leaked information or Sony “will have no choice but to hold you responsible for any damage or loss.”
Separately, Hollywood uber-writer Aaron Sorkin wrote an op-ed in the New York Times concurring with Sony that reporting on the hack is irresponsible at best and morally reprehensible at worst.
“As a screenwriter in Hollywood who’s only two generations removed from probably being blacklisted, I’m not crazy about Americans calling other Americans un-American, so let’s just say that every news outlet that did the bidding of the Guardians of Peace is morally treasonous and spectacularly dishonorable,” Sorkin wrote in the piece, titled “The Sony Hack and the Yellow Press.”
Comments