Sony scrambles to revive PlayStation Network

Disruption of service at the PlayStation Network began late Wednesday and had some suspecting that hackers followed through on a threat of vengeance for Sony's legal action against peers that crack PS3 software defenses.

The Japanese consumer electronics giant was working to figure out the cause of the Network outage, Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said in a blog post with the latest update on the situation.

"We wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we're able to get the service completely back up and running," Seybold said in a message posted Thursday.

"Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter."

The PlayStation Network outage came during a heavy playing week in the United States, with many public schools closed for spring break and an Easter holiday providing an opportunity for an extended weekend.

"Probably is hackers," a user with the screen name Drebin Bushido said in a chat forum below Seybold's message at the PlayStation blog.

"If they are saying nothing this mean they are hiding something."

Players were still able to take part in games offline on the consoles, but lost the ability to challenge others on the Internet, stream movies, or get other services.

Internet vigilante group Anonymous had vowed retribution against Sony for taking legal action against hackers who cracked PS3 defenses to change console operating software.

A message signed by Anonymous at website anonnews.org early this month announced an "Operation Payback" campaign aimed at Sony because of its cases against the two hackers, one of whom cut a deal to settle the case.

Anonymous argued that PS3 console owners have the right to do what they wish with them, including modifying them.

The hacker group threatened to retaliate against Sony by attacking the company's websites.

(c) 2011 AFP