In the days after Sony canceled the theatrical release of the Seth Rogen, James Franco comedy The Interview, the studio has so far failed to make any alternative distribution arrangements, in part because crucial Video On Demand partners are unwilling to assume the risk of a potential new cyberattack. But San Francisco-based BitTorrent, whose Bundle service enables large media file sharing with a paygate that protects and monetizes downloadable content, says it will happily step up if Sony is game.
Filing-sharing giant BitTorrent is urging Sony Pictures to release “The Interview” on its new, paid service. The software company, synonymous with illegal music and movie pirating, had several talks this week with the embattled movie studio about debuting the canceled Seth Rogen action-comedy as a “bundle” of links to files that can be controlled and sold to users legally. Sony scrapped plans to debut the picture in theaters next week after suffering a devastating cyberattack by hackers linked to North Korea — apparently in retaliation for the film’s depiction of the fictional assassination of the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. “A group of hackers stopped an American company from releasing a commercial film — this should not stand,” Matt Mason, the chief content officer at BitTorrent, told The Huffington Post on Saturday. “This is wrong and we can help make it right.”
