[organsnyder]

I'd interpret that exactly to the opposite: They're not sure if they're going to release it, but they want to put on a brave face and say that they will.

In reality, they're probably all scared shitless. If all of their employees' personal info has been compromised as reported, I can understand that they'd be worried about the possibility of someone getting hurt. Even a minor, harmless event could lead to bad press. Of course, no one believes that NK actually has the ability to inflict physical harm outside of their own country, but I can understand the Sony executives' hesitance to put that to the test.

[berdario]

> Of course, no one believes that NK actually has the ability to inflict physical harm outside of their own country

I wish. They're definitely capable of inflicting physical harm outside of NK. Just the first link that comes to my mind that has already been shared here:

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201306/kim-jong-i...

It's not so unusual for a Korean to be in Japan, and NK can surely provide falsified documents to "prove" their agent is actually from SK (NK and SK, aside from minor differencies, even speak the same language, so how would you tell them apart?)

Granted, their ability to move in the US might be severely smaller than their ability to move inside Japan. But you only need a person or two with an handgun to scare the living hell out of the media/country/people who worry about such things

[s_q_b]

North Korean and South Korean dialects are very different, but you are correct in that they are adept at sneaking agents into Japan. But they threatened "9/11 style" attacks on movie theaters, of which they are certainly not capable, especially if the movie goes straight to VOD.

I think there's an argument going on between Sony Pictures and Sony Japan over the release, and that right now everyone is sitting on their hands waiting to see how the U.S. government responds. But since there's already screener copies out there, I would put money on the movie seeing the light of day.

[jschwartzi]

Why doesn't 2600 defuse the threat by hacking the hackers? I realize this is just a publicity stunt for them but if they're serious about demonstrating that not all hackers are evil as they say then they could try to substantiate the other group's claim regarding Sony's data. It would be a pretty good stunt a-la Sneakers if they did.