Sony Threatens To Sue Twitter If It Does Not Ban Accounts Sharing Links To Hacked Emails

Sony Pictures Entertainment has threatened to sue micro-blogging site Twitter if it does not ban users sharing links to Sony's leaked documents, which were made public after a massive cyberattack last month. Earlier this month, Sony Pictures warned media organizations of legal action if they did not stop publishing leaked documents stolen from the company’s computer systems.

According to a report by Motherboard, Sony lawyer David Boies sent a letter to Twitter’s general counsel Vijaya Gadde, stating that if “stolen information continues to be disseminated by Twitter in any manner,” the company would “hold Twitter responsible for any damage or loss arising from such use or dissemination by Twitter.” The studio was attacked by a group of hackers known as "Guardians of Peace" (GOP), and the FBI eventually accused the North Korean government of aiding the group's efforts, which are allegedly in reaction to the comedy film "The Interview," which revolves around a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un.

In the letter, which is reportedly similar to the one received by media outlets -- including IBT Media -- last week, Boies said that Sony Pictures Entertainment “does not consent to Twitter's or any Twitter account holder's possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading, or making any use of the Stolen Information.”

Sony Pictures also requested that Twitter share details of a specific user named Val Broeksmit, a musician who has a Twitter account name @bikinirobotarmy, and is reportedly known to have posted links to access Sony Pictures' internal emails.

The user had earlier received a message from Sony’s copyright expert Elliot Ingram after he posted links to emails leaked by GOP. Broeksmit told Motherboard that he did not take the email from Ingram seriously, but later found that his Twitter account had been temporarily suspended.

Twitter should “comply with all future requests with regard to any other account holder seeking to disseminate the Stolen Information via Twitter. In addition, we ask that you provide the Account Holder with a copy of this letter, and request that the Account Holder cease publication of the Stolen Information on Twitter,” the letter from Sony Pictures said.

Sony Letter to Twitter