Sony's Welcome Back program detailed: Free games, movies for all

Image by Getty Images via @daylifehttp://www.tecca.com/news/2011/05/17/sony-welcome-back-program-psn-downtime

Some big name titles are included in the new customer appreciation program

Sony's PlayStation Network is finally (mostly) back up on its feet, and now that gamers have had a chance to hop on, change their passwords, and resume some much-need online gaming, the attention turns to Sony's "Welcome Back" program — the company's way of apologizing for the downtime. The program offers a decent selection of free games and services to get Sony back in the good graces of PlayStation 3 and PSP owners.

If you own a PlayStation 3 and were affected by the downtime, you'll be able to choose 2 free games from a selection of five, including:

• Dead Nation
• Infamous
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD 

PSP owners can cherry-pick a pair of games from this list of 4:

• LittleBigPlanet PSP
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation 

In addition to the free games, PSN users will also be granted access to a selection of PlayStation Network movies over an upcoming weekend, the specific titles of which will be revealed later. Also, gamers not currently subscribed to PlayStation Plus — Sony's premium PSN service that grants game discounts and other perks — will get a free month to try it out, while existing Plus subscribers will get 60 additional days for free. Sony's PlayStation Home virtual world will offer users 100 free items as well, so if you've never given it a try this will be your best opportunity. All of these freebies will begin flowing once the PlayStation Store is back up and running, the timetable for which has not been revealed.

In addition to Sony's program, streaming service Hulu is offering users who have their Hulu Plus premium accounts synced with a PlayStation 3 a 25-day credit for the inconvenience of not being able to stream due to the network outtage. Hulu Plus subscribers will begin getting emails shortly that contain a link to redeem the credit.
More here
http://www.tecca.com/news/2011/05/17/sony-welcome-back-program-psn-downtime/
Also more here.

Details for PlayStation Network and Qriocity Customer Appreciation Program in North America

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/16/details-for-playstation-network-and-qriocity-customer-appreciation-program-in-north-america/

• A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.
• 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
• Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
• Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
• Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.
• To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

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Sony considers offering reward to help catch hackers PS3 Hacked!

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeSee the full Article at the link below. If your on PS3 stay up on your records and bank accounts.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20060661-83.html
The letter, which is embedded below, says that the systems involved use 130 servers and 50 distinct software programs. Sony first noticed the attack on April 19, when its network team discovered that several PlayStation Network servers had rebooted themselves unexpectedly. Four servers were immediately taken offline in order to figure out what was going on. By the next day, it was clear that another six had been attacked, and they were taken offline as well. By April 23, computer forensic teams confirmed that intruders had used what Sony describes as "very sophisticated and aggressive techniques to obtain unauthorized access to the servers and hide their presence from the system administrators" and had deleted log files showing the footprints of where in the system they had been. By April 24, Sony had hired three different computer security firms to investigate the attack.
By April 25, it had determined that the attack had involved some credit card accounts. Consumers were notified the next day, though Sony did not know initially that the credit card accounts had been compromised. The Wall Street Journal has a play-by-play.
The letter also says that Sony had stored approximately 12.3 million active and expired credit cards, approximately 5.6 million of which belonged to customers in the U.S.
"We of course deeply regret that this incident has occured and have apologized to our customers," Hirai wrote. "We believe we are taking aggressive action to right what you correctly perceive is a grievous wrong against our consumers: a wrong that is the result of a malicious, sophisticated and well orchestrated criminal attack on us and our consumers."
Earlier in the day, rumors of a third attack circulated in online chat rooms, but those reports couldn't be independently confirmed. Another attack couldn't come at a worse time for Sony. Analysts are estimating that cleaning up the damage from the first two could cost the company $1 billion or more before the incident is fully resolved.
Earlier this week people claiming to represent Anonymous denied any role in the theft of credit card numbers from Sony. However, Sony said in a letter to Congress that a text file containing a catch phrase often invoked by Anonymous and intended to taunt the company was left behind by the attackers. On Monday, Sony disclosed that the attack had involved not only its PlayStation Gaming Network, which has been offline since April 20, but also its Sony Online Entertainment division, which includes online games like Everquest and Star Wars: Galaxies.
Sony's letter to Sen. Blumenthal is here.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20060661-83.html#ixzz1LtA3EpAi

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