AH Christmas.

Festive idiots in stupid jumpers, spending money we don’t have on gifts people barely want in the name of a faith hijacked by commercialisation.

Bah, humbug.

I don’t know why I wrote that intro. I actually love Christmas (for all of the reasons above - I AM that idiot).

Everyone has their Christmas Day routine but one thing we won’t be doing is going to see The Interview, which was due to be released that very day. In the US at least.

The film, directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and starring James Franco, sees two journalists hired by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Naturally, the North Korean establishment were far from amused by the premise.

In a thoroughly modern form of cyber sabotage, peeved hackers targeted the movie’s studio, Sony, breaking into private accounts and sending information to the media.

Sony employees had a glut of information leaked, including passport numbers, bank information, credit-card data and passwords.

The bigwigs really started sweating when celebrities were insulted.

Among the revelations gleaned from emails was the bombshell that Adam Sandler films were becoming too formulaic, Tom Hanks books restaurant tables under the pseudonym Johnny Madrid, Angelina Jolie is a "minimally talented spoiled brat" according to one producer and George Clooney gets upset over bad reviews.

When US Government officials confirmed North Korea was at the centre of the hacks, rumours began circulating that the film was going to be pulled.

First off I have to say, I thought the trailer for the film looked pony. But then I don’t really watch movies unless they are Belgian, black and white and structured backwards at an excruciatingly slow pace. I wasn’t gutted at the prospect of this stoner comedy not seeing the light of day.

I was even dubious of the concept. Imagine a North Korean alternative were agents blow Obama up with dynamite?

Still, as a devout anti-censorship-ist I was astounded the studio caved in to these mild threats.

Spurring me on were my unwavering belief in freedom of speech, artistic integrity and not giving in to bullies.

Then came threats referencing 9/11.

“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).” Read a message from the hackers who also sent a badly drawn stick figure calling the FBI “idiots” in arguably the most childish diplomatic slur in history.

Now, look. All of my anti-censorship credentials are still in place. Really they are.

But when you have a nation notorious for human rights infringements, and shadowy ruling classes, making threats of terrorism in relation to a Seth Rogan film, isn’t shelving the “project” common sense?

My mate Greg, an author and writer on TV’s Horrible Histories, disagreed with me and we had a skinny wristed Twitter spat about it - which he won because he is cleverer and more articulate.

But I take issue with defence of “artistic rights” (which in a political vacuum are patently valid) being defended out of context. The context here is a real threat to lives.

I hate we had to cow down to a humourless regime but I don’t understand what good can come of nationalistic chest beating.

My hope is this sparks positive and serious debates about international relationships and diplomacy over point-making.

Incidentally, rather than give to charity this Christmas, consider throwing a tenner Sony’s way. The studio is set to lose up to £48million over the scandal.

JAMES'S web and technology column appears in the paper every Wednesday.