Top 5 Digital Entertainment Fails of 2014

Here’s a look back on the biggest digital fumbles over the last 12 months. Did we miss one on your list? Let us know in the comments below.

Sony hacked: ‘Nuff said, really. But here is some background: In a well-planned and sophisticated strike, the Hollywood studio was hobbled by cyber-attackers intent on embarrassing and financially wounding it. Was Sony to blame for the debacle? Courts will decide, as SPE faces multiple lawsuits from ex-employees over its allegedly lax security practices. Now the question is, Who will make the movie about the Sony hack itself? See Variety‘s complete coverage of the Sony hack.

Redbox and Verizon kill their Netflix killer: How hard could it be take on Netflix? Pretty damn hard, it turns out. Verizon Communications and Outerwall’s Redbox unit this fall shut down their streaming-media joint venture, which was formed in February 2012.

Pirate Bay booted offline: One person’s fail is another’s win. The fail for pirates: After more than a decade of taunting Hollywood, the world’s most famous pirate website — for now — was shut down after Swedish law enforcement officials seized its computers on Dec. 9. Is piracy dead? Nope. But it’s a war, not a battle.

Streaming snafus for HBO, ABC, ESPN and Warner Bros.: Did you have issues logging into video this year? Yes, you did. HBO had problems delivering both “True Detective” and “Game of Thrones,” while ABC was plagued by glitches with its first-ever online broadcast of the Oscars. ESPN choked on at least one 2014 FIFA World Cup livestream, and WB had some trouble delivering “Veronica Mars” downloads to fans who’d paid for the movie.

Aereo KO’d in fight with broadcasters: Are you a fighter or a stealer? This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court said Aereo was a stealer. The well-funded startup, the high court said, was just retransmitting TV illegally through an indefensible rigmarole — Aereo was deemed a cable TV provider, in essence, so it was subject to the same rules. That was a huge bummer for Barry Diller and others invested in Aereo, as well as anyone who thought they could get broadcast TV without subscribing to pay TV… unless they have an actual antenna.

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