All right, friendos, we’ve got to talk.

As you may know, Sony Pictures Entertainment experienced a massive hack that shut down their whole system and gave hackers access to a boatload of private information. These hackers demanded that Sony pull their upcoming comedy, The Interview, from theaters. The Interview is a comedy from Seth Rogen and James Franco about two journalists who journey to North Korea in order to assassinate Dictator Kim Jong-un. Given that North Korea has called the movie “an act of war,” many believe North Korea may be behind the hack. But that’s not the point.

Much of the information stolen from Sony has been insignificant and frankly unhelpful to us as consumers. We heard about some innate things such as emails regarding the possible future of the Spider-Man franchise, some emails in which Angelina Jolie was called some mean names, negative employee feedback, and other information regarding movie industry secrets. More damaging information that has leaked includes employee salaries, passwords, movie script drafts, and even watermarked copies of brand new films.

Notice that I do not have any links to any of those stories. I don’t condone reading about that sort of information, and as such, I will not be reporting on any movie news released as a result of this hack.

In many cases, I feel that we as consumers do not have a right to know most of that information yet. These hackers are not Robin Hood figures. They’re not taking information from the powerful and giving to the poor so they can make decisions based on it. They’re stealing from a company’s private dealings and putting everything out in the public eye to fulfill a personal vendetta. All we’re doing by reading this information is encouraging the hackers.

And that’s very bad.

Here’s the thing. These hackers have not only released a company’s dirty laundry simply to damage their reputation. They’ve threatened employees and their families. We’ve known about this for a long time, and it doesn’t seem to come up in any of the leaked news being reported on. Websites should not be reporting this information, and people should not be reading it.

Not convinced? The hackers have now threatened terrorism and are invoking 9/11. A message recently released by the hackers read:

“Warning

We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places “The Interview” be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.
Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made.
The world will be full of fear.
Remember the 11th of September 2001.
We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.
(If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)
Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
All the world will denounce the SONY.”

It’s time to stop listening to them. If you keep giving the screaming child what they want, then why would they ever stop screaming? Do not read information released as a result of the hack. Do not download the illegally released movies. These are not people you want to support.

For more insight from a better writer, check out this op-ed from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.