Disney Chief Bob Iger Says Hackers Claim To Have Stolen Upcoming Movie (hollywoodreporter.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Hollywood Reporter: Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed Monday that hackers claiming to have access to a Disney movie threatened to release it unless the studio paid a ransom. Iger didn't disclose the name of the film, but said Disney is refusing to pay. The studio is working with federal investigators. Iger's comments came during a town hall meeting with ABC employees in New York City, according to multiple sources. The Disney chief said the hackers demanded that a huge sum be paid in Bitcoin. They said they would release five minutes of the film at first, and then in 20-minute chunks until their financial demands are met. While movie piracy has long been a scourge, ransoms appear to be a new twist. UPDATE: According to Deadline, the movie in question appears to be the upcoming film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Disney appears to be working with the FBI and will not pay the ransom.

Comments

Piracy?

[halltk1983]

Too bad they already misappropriated the term piracy for online file sharing. This seems more fitting of the name. Ironic, given the content of the theft.

Re:Piracy?

[91degrees]

But who cares? Pirates in the media are seen as heroic romantic figures. Jack Sparrow is very much a protagonist. Pirates of Penzance has a band of gentlemanly pirates. Even the villains like Captain Hook are presented as charismatic leaders.

And even if they weren't, nobody associates media pirates with historical pirates. The connection makes a good joke but that's about it.

Re:Piracy?

[king neckbeard]

The exact work? Probably not. In addition to lowering the total number of works published, copyright also tended to shift authorship from informative to fictional, since only the specific words are published, and thus rephrasing a scientific text allows a relatively trivial workaround.

So, we might have fewer blockbuster films (especially since we'd have competitive markets instead of oligopolies), but we'd probably be about 50 years ahead technologically by now, and more focused on learning. Of course, greater tech could mean greater standard of living, more education, and cheaper filmmaking, so perhaps we'd have even more well-produced films.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales..

[Anonymous Coward]

AKA... Pirates of the Caribbean: Lets Kick A Dead Horse One More Time.

File that under... what?

[DontBeAMoran]

The movie in question appears to be the upcoming film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Disney appears to be working with the FBI and will not pay the ransom.

So it's a movie about pirates that's been "pirated" and a ransom has been asked but won't be paid because hopefully the "heroes" will save the day. I don't know if I should file that under irony, inception, recursive and/or funny.

They should threaten to send it to movie critics

[elrous0]

"Give us the moneys or we show the movie critics how awful it is!" warned the pirates.

In other news, this is the lamest publicity stunt ever.

Coming to

[fred911]

Your favorite thepiratebay domain.

Awwww

[Opportunist]

Did shipping jobs overseas backfire?

Here's the tiniest violin, made in the USA, playing just for you.

ok so...

[roc97007]

Disney has done some bad things recently (cough-H1B-cough) but I'm kinda glad they refused to pay. And I have a stronger urge to see this film in the theater, regardless of whether the criminals release it or not.

Re: so, quit outsourcing, esp. your security.

[Kabukiwookie]

If you think hiring professionals is expensive, wait until you've hired some amateurs.