"The Interview" Now for Rent on Internet

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Several Internet platforms were one day ahead of movie theaters in debuting the controversial film "The Interview" by offering the chance to rent the Sony Pictures comedy starting Wednesday.

The film, whose premiere was initially suspended and then announced in some theaters, can be downloaded from sites like YouTube and Google Play for $5.99.

Different sources at these online platforms broke the news, and since 1800 GMT it has been available for anyone wishing to see the movie.

"The Interview" is a comedy by Seth Rogen and James Franco about a fictitious plot in the United States to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, which the Pyongyang regime called "an act of war."

Google's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond announced on his blog that Sony Pictures had been in contact with the company since last week to analyze the possibility of online distribution.

"Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)," Drummond said on his blog.

Drummond acknowledged that the "security implications" had to be considered, though "of course it was tempting to hope that something else would happen to ensure this movie saw the light of day."

The movie can be rented on Google Play, YouTube and the Xbox Video console, as well as on the dedicated Web site www.seetheinterview.com.

For its part, Microsoft said in a communique that the film will be available first in the United States, a step it decided to take after Sony was the victim of a "sophisticated cyberattack" to prevent its distribution.

But the company also recalled that, as was announced Tuesday, some 200 movie theaters have agreed to premiere the film beginning this Thursday, which Microsoft called "good news."

"A cyber-attack on anyone's rights is a cyber-attack on everyone's rights, and together we need to defend against it," Microsoft said in a communique.

The United States blames North Korea and the group of hackers called "Guardians of Peace," supposedly controlled by the Asian country, for attacking Sony Pictures to keep "The Interview" from being shown in theaters, with the threat of a lethal attack on the movie houses showing it.

[readon1 url="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2014/12/24/interview-now-for-rent-on-internet/"]Source:latino.foxnews.com[/readon1]