PlayStation Network Down Update: Japanese Government Blocks PSN Relaunch

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Folks in Japan are going to have to wait a while longer before they can start playing their PS3 games over PSN again, as the Japanese government has denied Sony permission to move along with their relaunch of the network. According to a Dow Jones Newswire, Sony has not proven to the government that measures are in place to prevent the theft of personal information on such a huge scale in the future.

Kazushige Nobutani, director of the Media and Content Industry department at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry told Dow Jones Newswires that permission was denied based on outstanding issues, which, due to security reasons, he wasn’t able to describe in much depth.

“The first is preventative measures,” Nobutani said. “As of May 13, Sony was incomplete in exercising measures that they said they will do on the May 1 press conference.”

Nobutani also said that government is interested in how Sony plans to regain consumer confidence after such a massive attack and the subsequent leak of personal information. “There were similar cases in the past that were caused by other firms, and we are asking Sony whether their measures are good enough when compared to countermeasures taken in the past.”

So basically, Sony can’t reactivate the PlayStation Network in Japan because the government isn’t convinced that they’ve actually secured the network. It’s great that government is stepping in and trying to keep Sony accountable, but it makes you wonder if PSN is secure enough to relaunch in other territories or if this is just a rush job so PSN can appease the gamers anxious to get to playing.