Sony made a mistake pulling off 'The Interview': Obama

Los Angeles: US President Barack Obama has said that Sony Pictures Entertainment made a mistake in pulling the movie "The Interview" following a cyber attack.

The president spoke just hours after the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that North Korea was responsible for the cyber attack on the studio, reports variety.com.

"Yes, I think they made a mistake," he said at a press conference, in response to a question about whether he agreed with Sony's decision.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship in the United States, because if somebody is able to intimidate us out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing once they see a documentary that they don't like or news reports that they don't like. That's not who we are. That's not what America is about.

"We cannot start changing our patterns of behaviour any more than we stop going to a football game because there may be a possibility of a terrorist attack. I wish they (Sony) had spoken to me first. I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks," he added.

The FBI announced Friday that it has concluded that North Korea was behind the attack on Sony Picture Entertainment's computer systems. The bureau cited malware linked to "other malware that the FBI knows North Korean hackers previously developed".

Obama said that the US would "respond, and respond proportionately... in a place and at a time of our choosing," but he declined to go into details. He said that the US had "no indication" that another country, such as China, was also involved.

"We just confirmed that it was North Korea. We have been considering a range of options which will be presented to me," he said, adding that he would make his decision based on what he perceives as what was a "proportional" response.