Sony: 'PS3 User Info Has Been Compromised'

The news for Sony, and for 70 million of their Playstation Network users, continues to get worse as days go by. On April 20th, the Playstation Network, which is the hub of the PS3 experience, suffered an "illegal intrusion".  The network was, essentially, hacked into by an unknown individual.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with a PS3, the network (or PSN) is about 80% of what makes a PS3 a PS3.  The PSN is the only way to play a game online versus another user.  It is also the only way to download updates or additional content for a game that you own.  The PSN is also the system that allows you to purchase new games and movies that are downloaded directly onto the hard drive of your PS3.

There are a number of applications that are unable to work if the PSN is offline, such as Hulu, Netflix, and Sony's new music subscription service Qriocity.  I have read, however, that some people have had relative success getting Netflix to work, even with the PSN offline.  My Netflix account is temporarily on hold, so I can't test this myself.  If you have a PS3, give this a shot:

When you open the Netflix App, you will be prompted to log on to the Playstation Network.

Attempt to sign-in. The sign-in will fail

Press the O button to go back to the previous screen.

You will get another request to sign-in.

Attempt to sign-in again. The sign-in will fail again.

Press the O button again - you will now have access to Netflix.

From what I have read, you will not be able to add anything to your queue, but you can at least watch what you have in your existing Instant Queue.

Yesterday, Sony announced that their network would be down 'indefinitely'.  It appears that Sony is going to have to rebuild it from the ground up.  Today, an update was posted, clarifying the date of the "intrusion" (sometime between 4/17 and 4/19), and admitting that they are now facing the worst case scenario:

"we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."

I like how in one sentence they say that "there is no evidence that credit card data was taken".  Then, in the very next sentence, they practically say, "but, yeah, your credit card information was taken".

The update goes on to advise customers to change their password information once the PSN is back up and running.  It also talks about steps that customers can take to protect themselves against identity theft in the event that their credit card information was compromised.

As of Midnight April 27th, Sony has no ETA when it comes to having the PSN online and operational.

If there is one positive thing to gleam from this experience, at least I'm not paying $60 a year to play online on my PS3, like I am for my XBox Live membership. 

Chilean PS3 Ad Creates Controversy

Two new print ads for the Playstation 3 in Chile are causing quite a stir. From what I can tell, most of the noise has come from stateside sites and publications. One ad depicts a gamer giving his still-beating heart to Joan of Arc.

The other "more sinister" ad, depicts a gamer giving a blood transfusion to...are you ready....a Nazi(GASP). The Nazi in question is supposed to be Erwin Rommel, a German field marshal whose humane treatment of captive soldiers and refusal to kill Jewish civilians made him a fairly respected military figure. Still, people will see a swastika and freak out.

The ads, I admit, are a little confusing. From what I can tell, it seems like they're trying to sell the "You're giving life to the game" type of tag line. I get it, and it's some badass artwork. But in an instant information age, companies must realize that just because an advertisement is safe to print in one country, that it won't be controversial in another country that it also does business.

Sony has a history of publishing questionable ads in areas outside the U.S. They were very successful, but in the the states they were considered distasteful, lewd, and borderline racist.

These campaigns may have worked 15 or 20 years ago, but in an internet age, when an ad is printed in a magazine or shown on TV, it's on Flickr or Youtube within a half hour. The world will see it and make their opinions, and sales will rise or suffer.