Yesterday, it came out that Sony had agreed to a $15 million settlement for the class-action lawsuit that stemmed from the 2011 hacking of the PlayStation Network, the Qriocity music-streaming service and the Sony Online Entertainment subscription-based video games.
Today, Sony went on the offensive and stated that it was not at fault for the hacking occurring.
"A proposed settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuits arising from the April 2011 criminal cyber-attacks on the PlayStation Network, Qriocity, and Sony Online Entertainment services," a representative told Polygon in a written statement. "Information regarding the proposed settlement, which is subject to final approval by the Court, is available in the settlement agreement and other documents filed with the Court."
"While we continue to deny the allegations in the class action lawsuits, most of which had been previously dismissed by the trial court, we decided to move forward with a settlement to avoid the costs associated with lengthy litigation," Sony's statement continued.
The official also told Polygon that Sony entity has not received "confirmed reports of identity theft linked to the attacks, and there is no evidence that anyone's credit card information was accessed."
"We are glad that the parties are working toward a resolution of this matter and that our gamers will continue to enjoy our entertainment services," Sony finally stated.
The data breach in April 2011 led to the theft of names, addresses and possibly credit card information of 77 million users. The PlayStation Network was down for several weeks as the security issues were addressed by the company. Sony apologized in May, offering free games to users. The class action lawsuit later came together, suggesting that Sony had not made enough restitution for the security breach.
In January 2013, the British government's Information Commissioner's Office fined Sony £250,000 ($396,000) for the 2011 hacking, as a breach of the UK's Data Protection Act of 1998.
If the terms of the settlement are approved by a judge at the May 1, 2015 meeting, some users will be able to procure benefits such as free PlayStation games, free membership to the company's PlayStation Plus premium service, free subscription to the Music Unlimited service and free Sony Online Entertainment currency.
Photo: Johan Viirok
