Anonymous has announced a temporary ceasefire in its attack against Sony's PlayStation Network. In a statement posted yesterday evening, the online entity emphasized its intentions to bring the pain to Sony, not to the company's customers, as hurting gamers "would defeat the purpose" of its actions.
"We realize that targeting the PSN is not a good idea. We have therefore temporarily suspended our action, until a method is found that will not severely impact Sony customers," reads the release. "Anonymous is on your side, standing up for your rights. We are not aiming to attack customers of Sony. This attack is aimed solely at Sony, and we will try our best to not affect the gamers, as this would defeat the purpose of our actions. If we did inconvenience users, please know that this was not our goal."
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Anonymous prefaced the message by clarifying its beef with Sony, saying it was targeting the electronics outfit for its treatment of PS3 jailbreakers, as well as consumers in general. Specifically, the group believes Sony has vastly overstepped its bounds by seeking legal action against consumers like GeoHot who have simply altered equipment that rightfully belongs to them, and further violating privacy laws by obtaining personal information from those who viewed GeoHot's material online. Moreover, Anonymous refuted the idea jailbreaking a PS3, or otherwise tampering with one's personal belongings, encourages piracy or has ill-effects on the industry, stating:
“Their propaganda regarding jailbreaking implies that it encourages piracy and thereby makes people lose their jobs, whereas jailbreaking actually just means you are making YOUR device do what it should do. Imagine if Microsoft forced you to use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox or Chrome. Imagine if they denied users from using any other web browser than their own. Many people would obviously be pissed... but then, why aren't you pissed at Sony?”
This statement seems to contradict previous comments by Takai, an agent of the SonyRecon splinter group which has tenuous ties to Anonymous. Speaking to PlayStation Lifestyle yesterday, he acknowledged consumers were generally pissed off at Anonymous' actions, but said it was an unfortunate by product of a worthwhile initiative, saying, “The consumers in this are as one might call, collateral damage."
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Anonymous addressed its somewhat inconsistent messaging by confirming the group is comprised of multiple entities fighting for the same cause, but not necessarily working as one cohesive unit.
“Anonymous Operations are generally independent efforts, and it would be a mistake to assume that the same individuals are responsible for every action taken. Anonymous is comprised of people with diverse points of view, of which not all coincide with one another,” it explained.
Overall, the hacktivists' most recent message is more of a restatement of Anonymous' purpose than a bona fide apology to PSN members. And as the organization is keen to point out, its members are in no way backing away from their major goal; which is to generally make Sony's life miserable until they feel the company has suffered enough.
This may only be in the beginning stages of a protracted grudge match. Does this most recent statement do anything to increase your support for Anonymous, or are you ready for this particular fight to fizzle out?
