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posted by on Tuesday May 16 2017, @07:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the because-it's-just-that-good dept.

Hackers have obtained a copy of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and are threatening to release portions of it unless Disney pays a Bitcoin ransom:

Although Iger did not mention the movie by name during the meeting, Deadline reports that it's a copy of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.'

[...] The "ransom" demand from the hacker is reminiscent of another prominent entertainment industry leak, where the requested amount of Bitcoin was not paid. Just a few weeks ago a group calling itself TheDarkOverlord (TDO) published the premiere episode of the fifth season of Netflix's Orange is The New Black, followed by nine more episodes a few hours later.

[...] There is no indication that the previous and threatened leaks are related in any way. TorrentFreak has seen a list of movies and TV-shows TDO said they have in their possession, but the upcoming 'Pirates' movie isn't among them.

Disney has refused to pay a ransom and is cooperating with the FBI.

Previously: Claim: Hackers Leak 'Orange is the New Black' after Netflix Did Not Pay Ransom


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday May 16 2017, @10:10PM (4 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday May 16 2017, @10:10PM (#510788) Journal

    Are the crooks failing blackmail 101 or something? You blackmail people (or companies) about things they DON'T want to show. Said companies want to show their Movies or TV-Shows etc. Possibly not right this very second but they want to show them.

    Movies make the bulk of their money during the opening weekend. Sometimes reviews will be embargoed until the movie is out. If the movie leaks before opening day, the word can spread that the movie is crap. People can get spoiled and lose interest. Some people will watch the leak instead of going to the theater.

    Paying, for example, a $100,000 Bitcoin ransom may prevent the loss of millions of dollars in some cases.

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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday May 16 2017, @11:07PM (1 child)

    by looorg (578) on Tuesday May 16 2017, @11:07PM (#510824)

    Movies make the bulk of their money during the opening weekend. Sometimes reviews will be embargoed until the movie is out. If the movie leaks before opening day, the word can spread that the movie is crap. People can get spoiled and lose interest. Some people will watch the leak instead of going to the theater.

    In theory that sounds good. It does make some kind of sense. Except that for most people it won't really matter. Seeing a pre-release copy is a choice, you know it's going to be kinda shit. Effects missing, clocks/text/whatever on screen etc. These are more or less for either die hard movie fans that will either see the movie anyway or people that don't give a shit and wasn't going to go and pay Disney $20 bucks (or whatever the ticket price is in the US these days) at the cinema.

    That said it's the 5th movie created from a Disney theme park ride ... don't we already kinda now how shit it's going to be ?

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday May 16 2017, @11:19PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday May 16 2017, @11:19PM (#510830) Journal

      Nowhere in TFAs is it suggested that the copy is a "pre-release" that is missing effects, has shit on the screen, etc. It may be that, but poor security could easily lead to the whole enchilada being leaked.

      Even if it was a shitty copy, streaming/torrent site rankings and stats show a voracious appetite for CAM copies of blockbusters, even though those are shittier than what you mention. See Guardians of the Galaxy Part 2 for example.

      Release day is the 26th, and Disney refuses to pay the ransom, so maybe we will see just how good the (technical) quality is.

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  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday May 17 2017, @06:12AM (1 child)

    by mhajicek (51) on Wednesday May 17 2017, @06:12AM (#510941)

    If the ransom is paid once, it will be demanded repeatedly in the future. It should be made illegal to pay any ransom under any circumstances.

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    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:21PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday May 17 2017, @01:21PM (#511070) Journal

      And yet many people have paid up to unlock ransomware-encrypted files, or even paid ransom to terrorist organizations [nytimes.com] to free hostages from terrorist groups.

      In the Disney case, I'm guessing the ransom demand was well under $1 million in Bitcoins. The criminals behind it may not be considered a terrorist organization or may not be attributable, so lawyers could argue that paying the ransom is not giving material support to terrorists or illegal in any way. If the film gets released early and causes losses of millions, Disney or other studios might decide to pay up the next couple of times this happens. It could be a small price to pay to address the result of their own security deficits.

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