PSN is down.. Could be 2 days till full service is restored

[Boogahz]

yeah, I thought that part was worded quite nicely

[Aslanna]

BTW, if you haven't gotten the 'free' games yet you might want to do so today as it ends tomorrow morning. It had ended already but a bunch of people (procrastinators) complained so no it's until 9:00 am tomorrow or something. Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today!

[Aslanna]

Just in case you procrastinated...

The time to collect your PlayStation Network welcome-back freebies has come and gone — twice, even — but Sony has extended one component. Registration for identity-theft protection will run through July 31, the company's top spokesman said on PlayStation's official blog.

AllClear ID Plus, a service of identity protection firm Debix, Inc. is available to PSN subscribers free for a year beginning from the date of their registration. Originally, June 28 was the deadline for ID protection registration.

[Aslanna]

Remember back in 2011, when the PlayStation Network went down for almost a month? Well, after years of haggling in court, Sony has recently agreed to a settlement in the cases brought forward following the hack. One which, if the judge approves their offer, is going to cost Sony $15 million, and give a whole bunch of people free stuff.

It's important to note that this information is all taken from Sony's offer of a settlement. It's yet to be signed off, so things in the actual notice - like the website you need to visit to make a claim - are currently offline, incomplete or not working. It also means that, while it's likely that this is going to take place, there's always the chance things change.

Anyway, based on Sony's settlement offer as it stands, here are the highlights:

- Claimants in the case who didn't get anything from the Welcome Back campaign Sony ran back in 2011 (but who were active PSN account holders at the time) are able to choose two of the following three freebies: a free PS3 or PSP game (from an as-yet unseen list), some PS3 themes or three free months of PlayStation Plus.
- These claims are only on a first-come, first-served basis. Once Sony has given out $6,000,000 of games/themes/subs to those folks, the deal is off, and anyone still after something will get one month's free PS Plus.
- If you did get a free game from the Welcome Back campaign, you can choose one of the above options (game, themes or 3 months of PS Plus) instead of two. That offer is also capped, this time at $4,000,000, with the same one-month PS Plus deal available to anyone who misses out.
- Anyone with an active account who lost unused PlayStation Store credits will, if their balance was above $2, get that money back.
- If you were a Netflix or Hulu Plus subscriber who couldn't access their account, you're eligible for three free months of PlayStation Plus.
- Anyone able to prove they had their identity stolen as a result of the hacks that caused the downtime is eligible for up to $2500.

Guess I'll take the 3 months PS+ whenever it becomes available! I don't really need any more PS3 or PSP games.

[Animalor]

Meh. I got the free games out of this. Not really looking for more freebies.