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Post by Admin on Dec 22, 2014 22:39:05 GMT
North Korea's limited Internet went offline Monday, with outages reported in the four networks connecting the country to the World Wide Web. After a weekend of spotty coverage, North Korea lost its connection early Monday. The connectivity issues emerged two days after U.S. President Barack Obama said the united States would "respond proportionally, and in a place, time and manner we choose" to the alleged cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. White House National Security spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan offered no information on the incident. It is possible North Korea's Internet access simply crashed on its own due to poor maintenance, or that the government shut it down unilaterally, as Syria's has done in the past, to prevent those with Internet access to gain international perspective on the hacking attack. "The situation now is they are totally offline. This isn't normal for them. Usually they are up solid. It is kind of out of the ordinary. This is not like anything I've seen before," Doug Maddry of Dyn Research, Inc., of Torrance, Calif., told Bloomberg News, the website Engadget reported. Since the United States has turned to China to pressure North Korea, it is also conceivable China's supplier of North Korea's Internet, China Unicom, closed access, or an outside group, hackers or a foreign government, has overloaded North Korea's broadband traffic.
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Post by Admin on Dec 23, 2014 22:40:02 GMT
A comedy film about North Korea that had its Christmas Day launch cancelled after a major cyber attack and threats against US cinema-goers is now to get a limited theatrical release, Sony says. The Interview will be shown in some independent US cinemas on Thursday. Sony Chairman Michael Lynton said he was "excited" that the comedy, about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, would now be seen. Two cinemas in Atlanta and Austin have already revealed screenings. They said via social media that Sony Pictures had authorised them to show the film, which has been at the centre of escalating tensions between the US and North Korea. "Breaking news," tweeted Tim League, founder of the Alamo Drafthouse cinema in Austin. "Sony has authorized screenings of THE INTERVIEW on Christmas Day. We are making shows available within the hour." The White House welcomed the development, with a spokesman saying that President Barack Obama applauded Sony's decision and that the US was a country that "believes in free speech". Seth Rogen, who directed and starred in the film, tweeted: "The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn't give up!" Sony had previously announced that the film's release would be pulled completely, following a hacking attack on the company and threats against cinema chains that planned to screen the film. That decision drew criticism in Hollywood, with some calling it an attack on the freedom of expression Mr Obama had also called Sony's initial decision to pull the film "a mistake".
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Post by Admin on Dec 24, 2014 22:40:46 GMT
On Friday, Obama had called Sony’s initial decision to cancel the release of the film was a “mistake”. In light of the news that The Interview will get a limited release on Christmas, the White House issued a statement saying that President Barack Obama “applauds” Sony’s move allowing the film to be seen. “The President applauds Sony’s decision to authorize screenings of the film. As the President made clear, we are a country that believes in free speech, and the right of artistic expression,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement. “The decision made by Sony and participating theaters allows people to make their own choices about the film, and we welcome that outcome.” In a press conference Friday, Obama had said he believed Sony’s initial decision to cancel the release of the film was a “mistake.”
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Post by Admin on Dec 25, 2014 22:40:40 GMT
They made a surprise appearance at a 12:30 a.m. screening of the film in L.A. last night Sure, you could celebrate freedom of speech by watching The Interview in the comfort of your own home. But if you head to one of the independent theaters showing the controversial movie, you might just get a surprise visit from one of the film’s auteurs—provided you live in Los Angeles, that is. Seth Rogen—The Interview‘s co-star, co-writer, and co-director—and his partner Evan Goldberg (co-writer, co-director) made a surprise appearance at a 12:30 a.m. screening of the film in Los Angeles last night. “Thank you so f—ing much for coming. We thought this might not happen at all,” Rogen told a roaring crowd at the Cinefamily theater. He and Goldberg also demonstrated their uncanny ability to finish each other’s sandwichessentences: “The fact that you guys came out…” Goldberg began, only for Rogen to finish: “…is super f—ing exciting.” See the pair introducing the movie below—and note that there’s strong language ahead, in case that wasn’t clear from the quotes.
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Post by Admin on Dec 26, 2014 22:46:51 GMT
Despite on demand availability, crowds still flocked to theaters to catch showings of “The Interview,” Thursday. The film made just over $1 million in ticket sales from 331 locations for an impressive $3,142 per theater average, according to distributor Sony Pictures. Many theaters reported selling out showings. Just one week ago, it seemed no one might see the satirical comedy following hacker threats, but, in a dramatic reversal of events, the studio this week decided to allow theaters to show the film and made it available for rental and purchase on digital platforms. Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures, said in a statement that the studio is extremely grateful to the people all over the country who came out for the unconventional release. Google Inc.’s agreement to show Sony Corp.’s “The Interview” gives its YouTube video-streaming website a chance to show that it’s more than just a destination for funny cat videos. Sony Pictures said the controversial movie is available online today on Google Play and YouTube Movies for $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to own. Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox video console and www.seetheinterview.com, a website sponsored by Sony, will also show the comedy. “The Interview” adds to a growing collection of films offered by Google that include “Divergent” and “The Lego Movie,” and is part of the Web company’s drive to bolster its premium content to compete with Apple Inc.’s music and video library. Google, which runs the most popular Internet-search engine, is also seeking to keep users coming to its Web properties as digital rivals such as Netflix Inc. and Hulu LLC draw more Internet traffic. By debuting “The Interview,” Google now has the chance to prove to a wider audience that it can sell premium content, according to James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.
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