The U.S.A. did not cave in to the Sony hackers; Sony did

By Jack Brummet, Terrorism & Film Ed.

People keep postulating that the decision to cancel the release of the movie "The Interview" is caving into the hackers' demands. It is more nuanced than that.

1) These aren't the demands of hackers. The hackers were the water boys, messengers, and thieves, in this operation. They were working for Kim Jong-un and the North Korean government. Any demands and threats were, yes, delivered by the hackers, but ultimately came from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In a country under a totalitarian family dictatorship, or, really, an absolute monarchy, this means the orders came from the top, e.g., Kim Jong-un.

2) People keep writing, posting, tweeting, etc., that the U.S. capitulated to the terrorists. The U.S. Government actually had nothing to do with this. Believe me, BHO, The Supremes, and especially Congress have virtually no control or influence over Sony. This was a decision by Sony, for Sony. Sure, I wouldn't necessarily rule out that that they came under pressure from BHO, or the NSA/Homeland Security, or another three letter agency, but for now it doesn't appear they actually did.

3) This is not the U.S.A. capitulating to terrorists. It was an economic decision on Sony's part, and one they may come to regret. It appears that--despite the critical merits of the film (reportedly not very good)--it could have been a blockbuster with people wanting to see what the fuss is all about. I suspect they will end up releasing the film once the smoke has cleared. And when they do, it won't be because they're standing up to terrorists. The go/no go will be based strictly on economics.

As always, I reserve the right to switch my position 180 degrees any moment.

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