Sony Begins Phased Restoration of PlayStation Network

Source: Wall Street Journal

MAY 14, 2011, 8:39 P.M. ET

Sony Corp. began a limited and phased restoration of its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment videogame services Saturday, bringing the company a step closer to normalcy following an attack on its systems that compromised personal information for more than 100 million user accounts last month.

The Japanese electronics giant said that following the release of a mandatory software upgrade for all PlayStation 3 videogame console units, it would begin bringing its PlayStation Network back online in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. The network will be limited at first, the company said, restoring Internet-based game play, movie rentals, music services and online video streaming through companies like Netflix Inc.

Sony said some customers will be able to regain access on Saturday. Full service should be restored by the end of the month, the company added.

"We know even the most loyal customers have been frustrated by this process and are anxious to use their Sony products and services again," Kazuo Hirai, head of Sony's game division, said in a statement. "We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident, and are making consumer data protection a full-time, company wide commitment."



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576323934034309052.html

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May 14, 2011 5:03 PM PDT
Sony's PlayStation Network goes back online

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20062983-261.html

Lots of my kid's friends have chucked the system entirely. Loss of faith in the product on a huge scale.

I heard that in 1984. Computer gaming would easily be all you could want. Then the NES was released in October, 1985 and the world knew consoles were here to stay forever.

Most of the Eastern US coast is up and California.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/14/play-on-%E2%80%93-psn-restoration-begins-now/

LOL Let's just say that we got a lot more done around here with PSN being offline.