# Sony hack conspiracy theories are already starting. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679 "2014-12-19T17:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/1 "2014-12-19T17:50:57Z")
I already see people claiming that this was done to boost the “cyber-security” industry and that insiders have been investing in relevant companies. Some people are just determined to assume that everything they hear is a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/2 "2014-12-19T18:20:16Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Some people are just determined to assume that everything they hear is a lie. Oh, I don’t know that I’d believe that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/3 "2014-12-19T18:24:40Z")
I thought the fact that it was a conspiracy is a foregone conclusion, and not subject to doubt. We just don’t know who to blame yet. Probably not the Illuminati. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/4 "2014-12-19T18:27:46Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Probably not the Illuminati. This red herring means that it is definitely the Illuminati, and you’re in on it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/5 "2014-12-19T18:29:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I thought the fact that it was a conspiracy is a foregone conclusion, and not subject to doubt. We just know know who to blame yet. Probably not the Illuminati. Could have been the Lemon latte, though. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/6 "2014-12-19T18:44:21Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I thought the fact that it was a conspiracy is a foregone conclusion, and not subject to doubt. We just don’t know who to blame yet. Probably not the Illuminati. I was using the term “conspiracy theory” to mean nonsense like the 911 truthers and moon landing hoaxers believe. It’s a common enough usage of the term. Obviously it is a conspiracy in the generic sense, and in fact, according to today’s news reports, the FBI says that we _do_ know who to blame (North Korea). Of course you may believe that the FBI is lying to us… ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/7 "2014-12-19T18:56:16Z")
That is too far-fetched. Sony orchestrated the “hacks” to drum up interest in a mediocre comedy movie, as a sort of double-blind viral marketing campaign. but once they released that genie the Internet community 4channed it into terrorist threats and Sony saw it blow up in their face. Once the theatre chains started to say they were not going to carry the film Sony realized it had gone too far. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/8 "2014-12-19T19:08:54Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > That is too far-fetched. > > Sony orchestrated the “hacks” to drum up interest in a mediocre comedy movie, as a sort of double-blind viral marketing campaign. but once they released that genie the Internet community 4channed it into terrorist threats and Sony saw it blow up in their face. > > Once the theatre chains started to say they were not going to carry the film Sony realized it had gone too far. If I were to believe in a CT about this, this is the one I would. > [@Theater chains cancelling "The Interview"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/4): > > If this isn’t just a publicity stunt… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/9 "2014-12-19T19:26:32Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > That is too far-fetched. > > Sony orchestrated the “hacks” to drum up interest in a mediocre comedy movie, as a sort of double-blind viral marketing campaign. but once they released that genie the Internet community 4channed it into terrorist threats and Sony saw it blow up in their face. > > Once the theatre chains started to say they were not going to carry the film Sony realized it had gone too far. The problem with that theory is that even the initial stages of the story caused a lot of embarrassment and damage (e.g. all the schoolyard-clique back-biting stuff). Arguably, they needed to prime the pump with a certain level of sensationalistic crap, but I find it hard to believe that they (being familiar the back-biting Hollywood culture) would have gone that far. That said, the question of conspiracy isn’t really all that important. The potential fallout to be guarded against (new waves of Danes looking for their Dane-geld payout, government exploitation of the incident to chip away further at personal privacy) are pretty much the same whether somebody planned to cause those effects or they just spontaneously happened. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/10 "2014-12-19T20:00:55Z")
(Caveat - I hold no truck with conspiracy theories. There is a massive diference between someone taking advantage of a situation and their actively creating that situation.) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/11 "2014-12-19T20:52:10Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I already see people claiming that this was done to boost the “cyber-security” industry and that insiders have been investing in relevant companies. > > Some people are just determined to assume that everything they hear is a lie. That sounds like a lie to me… I’ve always used the following sayings to shut down people (IRL) that claim that I’m pessimistic and/or cynical… Murphy’s statement on the Power of Negative Thinking; “It is impossible for an optimist to be pleasantly surprised” “The art of _accurate observation_ is often called “cynicism” by those who do not possess it” ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/12 "2014-12-19T22:02:05Z")
Can’t imagine that Sony did this to themselves. Wouldn’t be surprised if the hackers turn out to be your average 4chan types, though, rather than North Koreans operatives. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/13 "2014-12-19T22:39:33Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Can’t imagine that Sony did this to themselves. Well, not on purpose. You could argue that they _effectively_ did it to themselves with their horrendously slipshod security (e.g. storing passwords in plaintext documents in a folder conveniently titled “PASSWORDS”), but that’s not quite the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/14 "2014-12-21T02:49:33Z")
Hey, does this have anything to do with the rumor that them Russians are watching us zany Merkins with web cams? I started walking around the house naked after I heard that and the last conspiracy I heard was 47 million Russians had just gone blind. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-hack-conspiracy-theories-are-already-starting/707679/15 "2014-12-21T05:46:15Z")
I don’t think the government is behind this. I do think, however, that they are extremely happy it happened when it did. I haven’t heard many people talk about the torture report much.