索尼借線上渠道放映電影《採訪》

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.

洛杉磯——週三，在科技業巨頭谷歌(Google)和微軟(Microsoft)的幫助下，索尼電影娛樂公司(Sony Pictures)開始在線發行《採訪》(The Interview，又譯《刺殺金正恩》)。此前，恐怖威脅導致大型連鎖影院取消了放映該片的計劃。

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.

提供這部片子的互聯網服務平臺包括Google Play商店、谷歌旗下的YouTube和微軟旗下的Xbox Video。同時，在科技公司Kernel和Stripe的幫助下，索尼也開始在自家的網站上放映該片。影片的租金是6美元（約合37元人民幣），售價則爲15美元。

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. In Manhattan, Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater will begin playing it on Friday.

早前一天，索尼公佈了週四在大約200家影院上映《採訪》的新計劃。這些電影院的所有方均爲小型院線或獨立運營商。索尼稱，上映該片的影院數量後來增至大約300家。在曼哈頓，林肯中心的瓦爾特·裏德劇院(Walter Reade Theater)也將於週五開始放映該片。

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 F.B.I. 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.

谷歌和微軟加入的這場活動，已經變得與其說是出於商業目的，還不如說是爲了不顧外部恐嚇而捍衛言論自由。起初，有人威脅電影院，如果放映這部片子，便會對其發起9·11式的暴力活動，院線方面於是退縮了。美國聯邦調查局(FBI)進行了追查，認爲威脅源自朝鮮政府。《採訪》是部粗俗喜劇，講述的是刺殺朝鮮領導人的故事。

“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.

“對我們公司來說，放映這部影片至關重要，特別是考慮到那些想阻礙言論自由的人對我們的業務及員工發起的攻擊，”索尼電影娛樂公司的董事長邁克爾·林頓(Michael Lynton)週三發表聲明稱。

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.

一名知情人士稱，谷歌董事會執行主席埃裏克·施密特(Eric Schmidt)親自出面，幫助促成了放映《採訪》的協議。因爲相關談判是私下裏進行的，這名人士要求不具名。微軟的幾名高級領導人也很快加入。不過，兩家公司需要一些時間，以對各自的系統容量和安全性進行廣泛評估。

The F.B.I. 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.

這名人士稱，FBI和索尼自己的鑑證專家向這兩家科技公司簡要介紹了索尼遭受的數字入侵的性質，以便谷歌和微軟能夠確保自己不會遇到同樣的問題。

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.

攻擊索尼的黑客團體發誓，如果該公司讓發行《採訪》的替代方案匆忙上陣，就將採取進一步的敵對行動。截至週三，索尼調整後的放映計劃似乎並未引發新的攻擊，不過網上已經出現了該片的盜版。

Google wrote in a blog post that Sony contacted it on Dec. 17, when it first became clear that the film’s planned theatrical release would be scrapped and before irate Hollywood stars and President 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.”

谷歌發表了一篇博客文章，其中寫道，當事情剛剛明朗，影片在院線上映的計劃將被取消時，索尼就於12月17日聯繫到了谷歌。那時，憤怒的好萊塢明星和奧巴馬總統尚未開始對索尼的妥協提出指責。谷歌的這篇帖子稱，自己“迫不及待地想要幫忙——儘管考慮到已經發生的一切，安全問題是我們首先要考慮的。”

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.”

微軟的總法律顧問布拉德·史密斯(Brad Smith)則在週三發佈的博客文章中寫道，“用網絡攻擊任何一個人的權利，都是在攻擊所有人的權利，我們需要合力抵禦這種攻擊。”

He added, however, “We’re not endorsing this movie or any other.”

不過，他也表示，“我們並不是在爲這部或其他任何電影背書。”

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.

在《採訪》公映範圍縮小帶來了財務上的打擊之後，索尼將通過在線發行這部片子來增加收入。影業公司一直迫切希望能夠增加電影的點播觀看量，因爲它們最多可以獲得其中75%的收入。儘管合同的具體內容可能存在差異，但在影院發行中，影業公司一般可以獲得約50%的票房收入，剩下的一半則會流入影院所有方的口袋。

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.

索尼與谷歌和微軟的交易不涉及該片的海外發行。索尼希望這些交易將幫助自己打開局面，與更多的夥伴達成協議。上週，索尼聯繫了一些有線和衛星電視公司，希望他們可以提供租賃《採訪》的服務，但吃了閉門羹。蘋果也拒絕了索尼的請求。

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

蘋果的雲存儲系統曾經出現過安全問題；今年夏末，一些明星的個人賬戶遭到了黑客的攻擊。

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.

谷歌在聲明中表示，它“不能坐視不管，任憑另一國的一小撮人來劃定言論自由的界限（無論涉及的內容有多麼荒唐）。”此外，谷歌也有商業利益牽涉其中。雖然YouTube最出名的是免費視頻，但公司從2011年起就推出了視頻租賃服務。《採訪》及其引發的關注或許能夠爲這項服務帶來助力。

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

此外，通過與索尼合作，谷歌還可以在一個備受關注的好萊塢事件中勝過蘋果一籌。

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 antipiracy bill. Google was perhaps the most aggressive opponent of that unsuccessful legislation.

與索尼和谷歌的結盟形成反差的是，電影行業最近與谷歌關係緊張。本月，谷歌的總法律顧問肯特·沃克(Kent Walker)對美國電影協會(Motion Picture Association of America)進行了譴責，因爲此前，被黑客竊取的索尼的電子郵件顯示，協會打算重新推動一部反盜版提案。而谷歌可以說是這項不成功立法的最激烈的反對者。

“One disappointing part of this story is what this means for the M.P.A.A. itself, an organization founded in part ‘to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists’ right to free expression,’ ” Mr. Walker wrote in a blog post. “Why, then, is it trying to secretly censor the Internet?”

“這件事令人失望的部分在於，它對美國電影協會本身意味着什麼。這個組織創立的宗旨之一，就是‘促進和捍衛憲法第一修正案以及藝術家的言論自由權，’”沃克在博客中寫道。“那麼，它爲何又要試圖祕密地審查互聯網呢？”

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

美國電影協會進行了反擊，“谷歌擺出了言論自由捍衛者的姿態，這種做法是可恥的。”

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.

儘管《採訪》引發的風波讓索尼擁有了新的在線合作伙伴，但卻削弱了這家影業公司與傳統夥伴的關係。這些傳統夥伴爲帝王娛樂集團(Regal Entertainment)和AMC娛樂(AMC)等大型影院連鎖機構，而它們一般會率先從影片發行中受益。上週，與這些院線有關的人士憤怒地抱怨，索尼迫使它們爲影業公司的問題埋單，讓它們出面取消一個涉及2000家影院的大規模放映計劃。

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.

與此同時，各影院所有方也對索尼在線發行《採訪》的努力心生警惕，擔心這將爲在網上銷售仍在院線放映的電影開創先例。