Sony Pictures

FBI Director James Comey says he’s confident that North Korea was behind the cyberattack on Sony.

Sony’s “The Interview” has been a hacking target, a punchline, and a political lightning rod. Now, with its release online at the same time it debuts in theaters, it has a new role: a test for a new kind of movie release.

Following Sony Pictures decision to ax “The Interview” after cybercriminals made threats against cinemas, the film will now be shown on Christmas Day at theaters that want to air it.

As President Obama vows a proportionate response to North Korea’s alleged hack of Sony, experts see few measures that could effectively punish the isolated communist dictatorship.

Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Wednesday that they believe the North Korean regime is behind the massive Sony cyber attacks that started in late November. On Wednesday afternoon, Sony dropped all plans to release the film on Dec. 25.

Sony Pictures attorney David Boies warned in a sternly worded three-page letter that Sony will take legal action against any news organizations which continue to publish the stolen information in the leaked documents. Boies said Sony does not consent to the “possession, review copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading or making any use of the stolen information”

Hackers will not include personal information of Sony’s employees in their latest leak if the workers object. The group, calling themselves Guardians of Peace, threatened to leak more information they stole from Sony, calling it a “Christmas gift”.