YouTube screenshotThe startup Stripe says it will be processing payments on Sony's official website for streaming "The Interview" in the name of online freedom.
"We're happy to be involved because we think it's important that the internet remains an impartial platform," Stripe cofounder Patrick Collison wrote on the company's blog this morning.
After the controversial film was pulled from many theaters earlier this week, Sony decided to start streaming it online today at 10 am Pacific Time.
"We don't always endorse what businesses sell through Stripe, but we do think it's critical that we and our peers don't act as gatekeepers for what is and isn't acceptable content," Collison writes.
Here's the full post from Collison:
Starting at 10am Pacific Time this morning, you can watch The Interview at SeeTheInterview.com, powered by Stripe. The Interview was originally intended to be broadly available in theaters, but its release was curtailed after a number of distribution partners backed out.
We're happy to be involved because we think it's important that the internet remains an impartial platform. We're proud to work with organizations defending digital freedoms such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. We've partnered with Chilling Effects to prevent takedown notices becoming a censorship tool and supported net neutrality to try to keep businesses on a level playing field.
We don't always endorse what businesses sell through Stripe, but we do think it's critical that we and our peers don't act as gatekeepers for what is and isn't acceptable content.
Online freedom isn't automatic, and it's only through active effort that the internet will stay an open platform for creativity and innovation. We take our role seriously.