Sony Pictures' hacked emails published on Wikileaks

Film company faces further embarrassment as Wikileaks puts stolen emails online in searchable archive

Wikileaks has put the entire cache of stolen Sony Pictures emails, taken in a devastating attack late last year, into a searchable online archive. The database also includes some 30,000 other documents taken in the attack, which was perpetrated by a group calling itself Guardians of Peace.

The publication will enable anyone to search through the entire cache of documents - and potentially find more embarrassing emails. Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks, claimed that the move was in the public interest.

"This archive shows the inner workings of an influential multinational corporation. It is newsworthy and at the centre of a geopolitical conflict. It belongs in the public domain. WikiLeaks will ensure it stays there," claimed Assange in a statement, justifying the decision.

Wikileaks also claimed that the emails paint a picture of a company with close ties to the Democratic Party in the US and efforts to collect information about rival studios. "The Sony Archives show that behind the scenes this is an influential corporation, with ties to the White House, with an ability to impact laws and policies, and with connections to the US military-industrial complex," continued the Wikileaks statement.

It claimed, for example, that the emails showed a particular corporate fundraising effort on behalf of Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that sought to circumvent the $5,000 limit on corporate campaign donations.

However, the archive also contains a large volume of highly personal emails and, when Sony Pictures was attacked late last year, leaked emails showed executives describing top stars, such as Angelina Jolie, in a deprecating manner. In one, Jolie was described as a "minimally talented spoiled brat".

In response, Sony Pictures issued a statement condemning Wikileaks' move. "The cyber attack on Sony Pictures was a malicious criminal act. We strongly condemn the indexing of stolen employee and other private and privileged information on WikiLeaks," read the statement.

"We vehemently disagree with WikiLeaks' assertion that this material belongs in the public domain," it added.