What Corporate Cowardice Looks Like

[AndyBoyd 0]

Yeah, fair point. I'd just hate for this to be the first time....

[Bolas 5]

AndyBoyd

Start WWIII over a Seth Rogen movie? Millions of people dead over a dumb-ass comedy? Well, I guess that's one way to respond.....

It's not the movie, it's the message.

There'd be no attack. NK has been full of shit for years. They're broke and starving. Every once in a while they puff up and try to act tough. This was another one of those times but we fell for it this time.

You don't negotiate with terrorists.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[AndyBoyd 0]

If you were corporate counsel for Regal Cinemas, knowing that the North Koreans were behind these cyber-attacks, and knowing that a Christmas Day attack, although unlikely, would kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians, and would destroy the corporation you represent, what would your legal advice be?

[Bolas 5]

AndyBoyd

If you were corporate counsel for Regal Cinemas, knowing that the North Koreans were behind these cyber-attacks, and knowing that a Christmas Day attack, although unlikely, would kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians, and would destroy the corporation you represent, what would your legal advice be?

Well, given that Sony told them they could refuse to show it without reprecussions...

That's not the point though. They could have done a limited release at smaller theaters and requested law enforcement provide security for the first few days or even a week and then go wide distro when not only did nothing happen, no one was even caught trying something.

Or distribute it online allowing not only private viewing but public viewing rights too if a venue wishes to "take the risk."

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[quade 3]

AndyBoyd

If you were corporate counsel for Regal Cinemas, knowing that the North Koreans were behind these cyber-attacks, and knowing that a Christmas Day attack, although unlikely, would kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians, and would destroy the corporation you represent, what would your legal advice be?

Not be a coward. Period.

I know you're going to give all sorts of excuses why that's not the answer "corporate counsel" should/would/could give, but you asked me what I would advise.

I would find a way to stand up to the bully.

I would get the protection of the National Guard if I had to.

I would run disclaimers in the papers saying the theaters are under threat from North Korea and IF people don't want to come to the showings they are certainly welcome to stay away.

But . . . I'd find a way to show the film.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[AndyBoyd 0]

And take the financial hit when people stay home and don't go to the movies for 3 weeks or a month and a half while this film is playing? With all due respect to the First Amendment, you are asking the movie theater corporations to: (1) risk hundreds, if not thousands, of lives; (2) risk unending lawsuits that would utterly destroy their corporations; (3) risk ruining the turn-out for every other movie for approximately a month and a half, costing your corporation millions of dollars?

You would not last a week as corporate counsel. And your decisions may well wind up getting hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people killed. Good luck with your career, and your conscience, after that.

I repeat my initial comment. This movie never should have been made. Idiotic beyond all human comprehension.

[quade 3]

AndyBoyd

You would not last a week as corporate counsel.
(snip)
I repeat my initial comment. This movie never should have been made. Idiotic beyond all human comprehension.

And you would not last a week as a Hollywood executive!

Since when is, "idiotic beyond all human comprehension," a legitimate excuse for not producing a film?

It's a fuckin' stoner comedy. It's supposed to be, "idiotic beyond all human comprehension." That's it's function in life.

What is "idiotic beyond all human comprehension," is bending to the will of some hacker demanding it not be shown. Again, it's a fuckin' stoner comedy.

What are we then to do when the topic is serious?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[turtlespeed 212]

Rick

***Scathing article from an interview with a security professional:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/reaction-to-the-sony-hack-is-beyond-the-realm-of-stupid

"Literally, we are in the realm of beyond stupid with this"

"We have just communicated to any would-be attacker that we will do whatever they want."

^ this is why I consider it a mistake to cancel the opening of the movie

I actually agree with Obamas description that they made a mistake. They did.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[airdvr 200]

AndyBoyd

If you were corporate counsel for Regal Cinemas, knowing that the North Koreans were behind these cyber-attacks, and knowing that a Christmas Day attack, although unlikely, would kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians, and would destroy the corporation you represent, what would your legal advice be?

I'm not aware of anyone killed by cyber attack in recent history. However, this is the kind of lame ass response that emboldens those who would do us harm. That will get people killed.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[jakee 1,259]

AndyBoyd

You would not last a week as corporate counsel. And your decisions may well wind up getting hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people killed. Good luck with your career, and your conscience, after that.

Seriously?

Walk away for a minute, think about something else, take a fucking reality check and then come back to this thread

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[wolfriverjoe 1,351]

AndyBoyd

If you were corporate counsel for Regal Cinemas, knowing that the North Koreans were behind these cyber-attacks, and knowing that a Christmas Day attack, although unlikely, would kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians, and would destroy the corporation you represent, what would your legal advice be?

Sort of a tangent, but I wonder how many of those theaters are "Posted Prohibited" for concealed carry of firearms?

Capitulating to threats, submitting to bullies, allowing this sort of intimidation is a mistake.

Ask Chamberlain about that one.

They threatened "9/11 style" attacks on the theaters. What? They are going to crash planes into the building? I kinda doubt that would happen.

Suicide attacks by DPRK agents? Maybe. One or two would be all it would take.

But two or three uniformed cops and two or three more in plain clothes in the audience (think "Air Marshall style) would be enough to deter those.
Publicize that those "armed guards" are there.

Stand up to them. I had zero plans to go see this movie. Quade is right, it's a "stoner comedy."
But if it shows up in the near future, I'll be certain to go see it.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[AndyBoyd 0]

Yeah, seriously. I stand by what I said. No corporate counsel in his or her right mind would advise a movie theater chain to show that movie. That's why it got pulled. And the reality check is it did get pulled. So it looks like I was right. Now if Sony and the theaters change their minds, I'll have egg on my face. But as it stands, I'm right on this one.

[ryoder 1,400]

AndyBoyd

I repeat my initial comment. This movie never should have been made. Idiotic beyond all human comprehension.

So how do you feel about:

Three Stooges parody Hitler(1939): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Nazty_Spy!
Charlie Chaplain parodies Hitler(1940): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator[/url]

I long for the good old days when America had balls, rather than shitting its self over the empty rants of some hermit kingdom.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[kallend 1,648]

ryoder

***
I repeat my initial comment. This movie never should have been made. Idiotic beyond all human comprehension.

So how do you feel about:

Three Stooges parody Hitler(1939): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Nazty_Spy!
Charlie Chaplain parodies Hitler(1940): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator[/url]

I long for the good old days when America had balls, rather than shitting its self over the empty rants of some hermit kingdom.

I still fail to see how the actions of some corporations (the biggest of which is Japanese) in any way represent the testicular attributes of America.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[ryoder 1,400]

"Taiwanese Animators' Take On The Sony Hack Scandal"

http://digg.com/video/taiwanese-animators-take-on-the-sony-hack-scandal

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[ryoder 1,400]

ryoder

***
I repeat my initial comment. This movie never should have been made. Idiotic beyond all human comprehension.

So how do you feel about:

Three Stooges parody Hitler(1939): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Nazty_Spy!
Charlie Chaplain parodies Hitler(1940): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator[/url]

I long for the good old days when America had balls, rather than shitting its self over the empty rants of some hermit kingdom.


Bwahaha!!!
I just found this for "Team America":

In August, Internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge blasted Paramount and the filmmakers for trying to "mock the terror war." A week later, the conservative group Move America Forward criticized the movie, saying it was "inconceivable" that filmmakers would have spoofed the Nazis during World War II. The organization declined to comment last week.

Source: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-10-11-parker-stone_x.htm

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[normiss 622]

I'd be happy to go to a theater to see it.
I'd take friends.
It'd be a perfect way to say fuck you DPRK.

We don't bow to terrorist threats. We should never allow a punk ass dictator to threaten us like this.

Fuck them. Show the damn movie. In public.

[turtlespeed 212]

normiss

I'd be happy to go to a theater to see it.
I'd take friends.
It'd be a perfect way to say fuck you DPRK.

We don't bow to terrorist threats. We should never allow a punk ass dictator to threaten us like this.

Fuck them. Show the damn movie. In public.

I wonder . . . is there a chance . . . that Sony engineered this?

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[ryoder 1,400]

normiss

We should never allow a punk ass dictator to threaten us like this.

I keep reading more and more reports that NK is an oligarchy, not a dictatorship. i.e. Kim Jong-un is just a figurehead puppet that spends his time doing photo-op "inspections", while the people in power pull the strings behind the curtain.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[champu 1]

AndyBoyd

Sorry to be so obtuse.

Not at all, sometimes my posts here wander.

AndyBoyd

Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?

I agree with your assessment of what happened behind the scenes at theaters and why. But when I said, "as the civil liability bar is lowered to include failing to heed less and less specific threats" I was taking a shot at lawyers/judges (and later in the post actuaries) for actively pushing that bar into the ground and therefore being the real driving force behind the regrettable situation. It's not the theatre owners, nor the movie executives, nor is it even the hackers who were making the threats. The threat of terrorists hijacking planes and crashing them into your theater over a Seth Rogen movie is fanciful and fairly easily dismissed, but anyone can picture themselves in a web of lawsuits.

Again, though, following the parallel with the permitting requirements discussion, I don't argue that lawyers are doing this in a vacuum. People are readily drummed up into this kind of behavior.

[quade 3]

turtlespeed

I wonder . . . is there a chance . . . that Sony engineered this?

While anything is possible in theory . . . no. Sony is not a company that goes out if its way to embarrass itself.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,400]

quade

While anything is possible in theory . . . no. Sony is not a company that goes out if its way to embarrass itself.

But it's not unheard of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 3]

Funny thing about Sony is it has always had a hard on for DRM. They fought too hard for their own proprietary system, just like they fought too hard for their own proprietary tape format (Betamax), and as a result, lost and lost badly.

In a parallel world, they didn't and they still rule the majority of consumer electronics sales, but in THIS one . . . uh . . . not so much.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,400]

Dr Evil comments on the affair: http://digg.com/video/mike-myers-returns-as-dr-evil-on-snl

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[ryoder 1,400]

Sony Lawyer (David Boies): 'The Interview' Will Screen: http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/21/media/sony-north-korea-the-interview/index.html

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.