Readers React:  ‘The Interview’ pulled: Sony let the bad guys win

To the editor: While I understand concern for public safety, to allow anyone or any country to dictate through threat is a huge mistake. Giving in to bullies hurts all of us, and as we all know, it opens the door to more of the same. (“Sony scraps ‘The Interview’ release; North Korea blamed for hack,” Dec. 17)

I offer a suggestion: Sony Pictures, which canceled the Christmas Day release of “The Interview” after threats to theaters showing the movie, should allow the film to be shown on all major networks and on cable — all on one night. That should be our response to someone who tries to limit our right to free expression.

Steve Flatten, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I’m certainly no fan of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and I can’t defend any cyber hacking, but this whole incident is indicative of something even larger and, in my view, more important: the attitude in American society and especially in the entertainment industry that nothing is sacred.

Kim is not to be admired, but he is the leader of an important country in the world. Hollywood increasingly holds nothing sacred. It mocks Christianity, moral values, decent language and more.

In a certain sense, I welcome the losses taken by Sony Pictures for this overall failure.

Sunny Kreis Collins, Palm Desert

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To the editor: It is sad that North Korea and its stooge front, the Guardians of Peace, have won this round in cyber extortion. Sony miscalculated badly and will pay the price.

Perhaps we can put this lesson to good use by abandoning our desire to rebuild our aging nuclear weapons arsenal and instead invest the money in cybersecurity. North Korean computers did what their nuclear weapons could not: identify and target an enemy thousands of miles away and make it yield without the loss of a single life.

In the last year, hacks at major U.S. companies have cost hundreds of millions of dollars and captured sensitive personal information on millions of Americans. This is the future of modern warfare.

Rebuilding nuclear weapons will be extremely expensive. On the other hand, by investing that same money into cybersecurity we could create tremendous technologies with many applications for civilian use. Cybersecurity has the opportunity to create good paying jobs and has the potential to create more secure records.

Let’s not let Sony’s sad lesson go to waste.

David M. Romero, Acton

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To the editor: Just as I was getting friends together to see “The Interview” on Christmas Day as a protest against North Korea’s brutal digital attack on free speech (and to have a rollicking good time), Sony goes ahead and pulls the plug, displaying not an ounce of courage or perspective.

In this case, we, the people, are the ultimate losers.

Gary Linquist, Morro Bay

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