Readers React: Sony doesn’t need Obama’s advice on ‘The Interview’

To the editor: Unless President Obama has all the facts and commits to indemnify and defend Sony Pictures (and theater owners) against lawsuits in the wake of an act of terror tied to the showing of “The Interview,” then Sony made the right decision to cancel the movie’s Christmas Day release. (“Sony ‘made a mistake’ in canceling release of ‘Interview,’ Obama says,” Dec. 19)

Remember the cases of Ebola in Texas? One week, Texas officials were criticized for tearing apart the residence of a patient when there was no evidence that it was necessary to do so. Another week, Texas health officials were lambasted for failing to do more.

We have politicians eager to make a sound bite and to grab their next votes — all while trying to look intelligent to their constituents. Let businesses decided what is best for themselves based on the facts.

Andrew Ko, San Marino

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To the editor: As I read about the hack of Sony Pictures’ computer systems, I cannot help remembering that, just a few years back, it was Sony hacking its customers’ computers by placing malware in 22 million music CDs.

Sony’s software modified the Windows operating system to interfere with copying CDs. The object was to prevent the creation of even legitimate CD copies. Not only did the Sony software limit the capability of affected computers, it also made the affected systems vulnerable to even more serious attacks from other parties.

This isn’t to condone the intrusion into Sony’s systems, but perhaps the company can now appreciate why folks were so angry about the malware that Sony hid in its CDs.

Richard Dawson, Los Angeles

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To the editor: There is a perfect (and peaceful) way for the international community to retaliate against the North Korean hackers. Granted, these cyberterrorists have won the first round by suppressing “The Interview”; however, they cannot hijack the entire Internet.

The simple solution is for a virtual flood of videos to saturate the Internet depicting North Korean leader Kim Jon Un in ways that will make “The Interview” mild by comparison.

This would send a message about the futility of cyberterrorism.

Ed Shalom, Valencia

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