Sony Finds Allies in Google and Microsoft to Stream Movie

Los Angeles: With the help of the technology giants Google and Microsoft, Sony Pictures began distributing "The Interview" online Wednesday after a terror threat led the major theater chains to cancel the film's release.

Among the Internet services that offered the film were the Google Play store, Google's YouTube and Microsoft's Xbox Video. Sony began showing the film on a website of its own, with help from the technology companies Kernel and Stripe. The film was available to rent for $6 and buy for $15.

A day earlier, Sony revealed new plans to release "The Interview" on Thursday in about 200 theaters owned by small chains or independent operators. Sony said that number had grown to about 300.

Google and Microsoft joined what had become more a campaign to defend free speech against foreign intimidation than a business initiative. The initial theatrical retreat followed a threat - traced by the FBI to the North Korean government - of 9/11-style violence against theaters that showed the lowbrow comedy, which is about the assassination of North Korea's ruler.

"It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and employees by those who wanted to stop free speech," Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman, personally helped broker the "Interview" deal, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were private. Senior Microsoft leaders were also quick to align. But both companies needed time to conduct an extensive assessment of their system capacities and security.

The FBI and Sony's own forensic experts briefed the technology companies on the nature of the digital intrusion on Sony so that Google and Microsoft could ensure they would not be exposed to the same problem, this person said.

The hacker group that attacked Sony had promised further hostile action if the studio cobbled together an alternate release for "The Interview." As of Wednesday, it did not seem that the revised plan had prompted any new attack, though pirated versions of the film were already appearing online.

Google wrote in a blog post that Sony contacted it Dec. 17, when it first became clear that the film's planned theatrical release would be scrapped and before irate Hollywood stars and President Barack Obama began criticizing the studio for caving. The Google post said that it was "eager to help - though given everything that's happened, the security implications were very much at the front of our minds."

Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that, "a cyberattack on anyone's rights is a cyberattack on everyone's rights, and together we need to defend against it."

He added, however, "We're not endorsing this movie or any other."

After suffering financially from the diminished theatrical release of "The Interview," Sony will help its bottom line with the online distribution. Studios have been eager to increase on-demand viewing because they keep as much as 75 percent of that revenue. And although contracts vary, studios receive roughly 50 percent of ticket revenue from movie theaters, with the theater owners keeping the other half.

Sony's hope is that the Google and Microsoft deals, which do not cover viewing abroad, will serve as an icebreaker for other partners. Last week, the movie studio contacted cable and satellite companies to rent "The Interview" but was rebuffed. Apple similarly refused.

Apple has had problems with the security of its iCloud storage system; celebrities' individual accounts were hacked in late summer.

In its statement, Google said it "could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)." Google also has business interests in play. YouTube is mostly known for free viewing but has offered a video rental service since 2011. "The Interview" and the surrounding attention could give that service a boost.

Google also gets to one-up Apple on a prominent Hollywood matter.

Sony's alliance with Google runs counter to recent tension with the movie industry. This month, Google's general counsel, Kent Walker, criticized the Motion Picture Association of America after the disclosure - in Sony emails that the hackers stole - of a plan by the association to revive an anti-piracy bill. Google was perhaps the most aggressive opponent of that unsuccessful legislation.

"One disappointing part of this story is what this means for the MPAA itself, an organization founded in part 'to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists' right to free expression,'" Walker wrote in a blog post. "Why, then, is it trying to secretly censor the Internet?"

The movie association fired back, "Google's effort to position itself as a defender of free speech is shameful."

While aligning Sony with new digital allies, the contretemps over "The Interview" weakened the studio's ties with traditional ones - the large theater chains like Regal and AMC that typically get a first cut at its films. Over the last week, people associated with those chains complained bitterly that Sony had forced them to clean up a studio problem by taking a lead in canceling the planned wide release in about 2,000 theaters.

At the same time, theater owners have been wary of Sony's effort to make "The Interview" an online event, lest it become a precedent for digital sales while movies are still working their way through theaters.