This ain't about terror or diplomacy. The execs aren't scared for us, they are scared for themselves.

But, scared of what....?

Americans are scared of foreigners, each other, and just about everything. They are now easily convinced to stay home where things are less scary.

How would that change anything?

Americans are now so fearful people that it is unlikely that any kind of entertainment will survive, let alone be profitable, if it requires a physical gathering of people.

Turns out a fearful marketplace is not always a profitable one.

It doesn't even matter that the "terrorist threat" from NK was from a group that couldn't organize a three-car parade, let alone coordinate simultaneous attacks in hundreds of movie theaters across America.

North Korea is having fun with the idea that they've declared war on us, but to America, this is on the same level as religious groups being offended over this and that. We choose to respond to their assertion of offense in a particular way.

Of course, the North Korean "cyber warriors" broke a lot of our laws in conveying their feelings this time. In the past they've mainly focused the expression of these feelings on YouTube videos showing North America nuking the US with video game graphics and heroic music. We Americans tended to ignore these, or, worse, laugh at them. So, this time, they decided engaging in actual cyberwar, making the pretty much correct gamble that we would find the case of their country too pathetic to actually acknowledge that this was an act of war.

I think the theaters are doing the right thing. It's a case of weak people who are frustrated that they can't do anything about it when they feel offended, and they will just escalate when the world blows them off. If the theaters don't show the movie it will be a sign that the entertainment industry isn't likely to go this route again.

In the mean time, if we can identify and demand the prosecution of the specific hackers, perhaps we can persuade North Korean hacktivists not to try this route of expressing their feelings again.