Sony releases Nork flick The Interviewstraight to DVD (digital video download)

Oh look, like we totally didn't see this happening

In a shining example of how high culture* will always defeat the jackboot tactics of oppressive states like North Korea, the Seth Rogen/James Franco film The Interview is now available for viewing via multiple online streaming services.

Google and Microsoft both announced that the flick – which surely cannot be any more farcical than the controversy that surrounded it following the Sony Pictures network hack earlier this month – would begin streaming on their respective services beginning at 10am Pacific time on Wednesday.

In Microsoft's case, that means it's now accessible toXbox Video customers who have an Xbox console, a Windows Phone, or a Windows 8.x tablet or PC. In Google's case, the Kim Jong-un–mocking comedy can be had on YouTube or via the Google Play store.

Sony has also launched a dedicated website where cinephiles can watch the North Korean psycho-baddie leader meet his fiery end [spoilers! – Ed.] atseetheinterview.com. [er, whither Sony PlayStation owners? – Ed.]

The studio could stand to make a pretty penny off this stunt. A onetime streaming "rental" from any of the services goes for $5.99, while purchasing a high-definition downloadable version will cost you $14.99.

Of course, if you're a truly dedicated fan of such earlier Rogen/Franco knee-slappers as Pineapple Express and This Is the End – or you just like giving the virtual boot to impoverished Asian regimes – you'll venture out this Christmas to catch The Interview in the cinema.

Sony's announcement that the film would be available via streaming came not long after its about-faceon its earlier decision to bar it from public screenings, following alleged terrorist threats against theaters.

Then again, if you'd just like the 30-second version, Business Insider has recapped the entire film, complete with screenshots.

There's been no word on whether the 2004 Trey Parker/Matt Stone comedy Team America: World Police – in which former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is brutally skewered, albeit in puppet form – have been similarly given the green light, after that film was reportedly also pulled from screenings. ®

* Yes, we're being sarcastic. All the way through.