The Sony hacks reveal what\u2019s important.<\/p>\n
For years there\u2019s been an obdurate, official position that there is to be no negotiating with terrorists. Negotiation, or worse, capitulation would lead to utter catastrophe and societal ruination.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n It was a mantra that echoed, even boomed in our heads, and to so much as question it was to let the terrorists win. It\u2019s all a little bit counter-intuitive, because on an personal level, we all know that if somebody we loved were taken hostage, we would negotiate, doing whatever we could to bring that light safely back into our lives. When the stakes are intimate and truly meaningful to us, we only care about the results, not the precedent we\u2019re setting in achieving that result.<\/p>\n In acquiescing to the Guardians of Peace demands and agreeing not to release the movie The Interview, Sony was acting in self-interest.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n They were not concerned with freedom of speech or following the US government’s rulebook on dealing with terrorists, or even protecting the vulnerable part-time employees who\u2019d be working in the threatened cinemas over Christmas, or anything else that wasn\u2019t a part of their bottom line.<\/p>\n