Documents from the hacking incident of Sony Pictures Entertainment last year have been publicly published on WikiLeaks.
Over 170,000 e-mails to and from over 2,200 Sony Pictures email addresses, along with over 30,000 documents, were released, according to a WikiLeaks statement on Thursday.
WikiLeaks is known for publicly posting documents, including government communications, that are unauthorized for publication.
Sony Pictures and the Motion Picture Association of America have condemned WikiLeaks for keeping the documents available publicly, according to Bloomberg.
“This archive shows the inner workings of an influential multinational corporation,” said Julian Assange, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks. “It is newsworthy and at the center of a geo-political conflict. It belongs in the public domain. WikiLeaks will ensure it stays there.”
Near the end of last year, Sony Pictures computers were hacked with the U.S. officials blaming North Korea for the cyber-attack. The incident took place as the company was releasing “The Interview,” a comedy that openly made fun of the leader as well as depicted his assassination in the movie, of North Korea, Jong-Un.
The incident shut down the entire studio’s computers as it exposed personal and professional email exchanges to and from Sony officials.
WikiLeaks has not only left all of the documents posted for searching and re-posting, but the material includes a search tool making it even easier to navigate. The information is quickly being shared via social media platforms by journalists and reporters. But the information is also now easily accessible by Sony competitors.
Sony disputed this release of information by WikiLeaks and stated that they would fight for the safety, security and privacy of its employees.
“The attackers used the dissemination of stolen information to try to harm SPE and its employees, and now WikiLeaks regrettably is assisting them in that effort,” Sony Pictures said in a statement.
The Motion Picture Association of America represents the interests of big Hollywood studios. They support Sony Pictures and have joined in the condemnation.
“WikiLeaks is not performing a public service by making this information easily searchable,” former U.S Senator Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the MPAA, said in a statement. “Instead, with this despicable act, WikiLeaks is further violating the privacy of every person involved.”
