Sorry PSN Players but there next attack is when Sony is Back up Online

If you've been trying without success to access the PlayStation Network, you're not alone. The online gaming network has been unavailable to 70 million PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable registered users since Thursday.

Sony has acknowledged the network outage, although no explanation has been offered. The company said in a posting Thursday on its PlayStation Blog "that it may be a full day or two before we're able to get the service completely back up and running." Some observers are speculating that the outage is the result of denial-of-service attacks by Anonymous.

'No Qualms'

In early April, several Sony sites were brought down by members of Anonymous, the hacker group known for its politically oriented online attacks. The sites included Sony.com, Style.com and the U.S. site for PlayStation. The hacker group has both denied responsibility for the outage, and, in a statement on its Facebook page, implied that it caused the outage.

"Take a break from online gaming for a while," the Facebook posting read, adding that "your skills, your health, and your emotional levels" are out of order "if they are shackled" because the PlayStation network is down. "We have no qualms about our actions."

Before the attacks on the Sony sites, Anonymous had announced it would target the company because of Sony's lawsuit against a user named George Hotz. Sony obtained a restraining order against Hotz and other hackers for allegedly jailbreaking the PlayStation 3 game console to run unauthorized software such as pirated games, and for providing software tools that others could use.

'Disciplinary Actions'

Sony also sought and received access to Hotz' social-media accounts, and to the IP addresses of visitors to his web site. The company also obtained access to his PayPal account to see donations in support of his jailbreaking efforts.

According to news reports, Sony was looking especially for payments from supporters in northern California. The company has been seeking to try the case in Northern California, which Hotz, a New Jersey resident, has resisted.

In an open letter to Sony, Anonymous said Sony "abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information on how your products work." It added that the company had "victimized your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information," adding that these actions mean Sony "violated the privacy of thousands."

Anonymous said the anti-Sony effort against the sites, which it is called OpSony, were "disciplinary actions" against Sony's private domains, which were paid for with Sony's own money, and implicitly compared that to Sony's actions against Hotz's privately owned game console. Sony has said it was protecting its intellectual-property rights.

Sony and Hotz reached a settlement two weeks ago. The terms of the agreement were not made public, although Hotz agreed to a permanent injunction.