Sony under fire: Investors launch scathing attacks

Howard Stringer the well known President and CEO of Sony is backed into the corner with an industry taking shots at him for the companies recent failures regarding data losses. A former Sony shareholder has said: "The leadership of Sony is not in a good place right now, which could lead to Stringer stepping down and may sabotage Hirai's chances of succeeding as the CEO ". Things are not looking so good for the company right now with more to read below.

[Flashwave_UK]

dam wtf thats kinda sad :( when sony thought they were having a good year it all goes wrong dam so many epic exlusives this year what a way to spoil all of that. FUCK YOU HACKERS
@ (guy below): LoL wut????

[Istanbull]

I'm confident that Sony will come out of this stronger than ever. Make.believe

[Shaka2K6]

.

[Denethor_II]

@ Istanbull. That made me a bit emotional, God bless you son.......God bless you.

[user858621]

lol wow........awkward...

[AAACE5]

Don't worry... exclusives will fix everything!

Sony's GGGGGRRRREEEEEAAAAATTTT!!!

[dabri5]

How was the comment above trolling? I make a logical statement that doesn't show bias. I didn't call out anyone nor did I try to generate rage from other commenters. I'm seriously baffled.

"Don't worry... exclusives will fix everything!

Sony's GGGGGRRRREEEEEAAAAATTTT!!! "

However this is OK?

[Biggest]

Oh look! More idiots that can't find the real issue and try to make their own issue to justify their own selfish behavior. Sony sued no one for enjoying their purchased items. That was never the case. Laws should NOT be changed to allow new theft.

[Biggest]

You wouldn't send a person to jail for walking into a store and stealing a BluRay either. I'm saying that the laws don't need to be made more lenient. If anything they should have new interpretations. You don't get to steal because "they still have it."

[DragonKnight]

You're trying to justify hacking and piracy?

You basically just said that because you bought a piece of hardware you should be allowed to tamper with the software. IT'S NOT YOUR WORK!!! You can do whatever you want with the hardware because that's what you bought, and in so doing were given a license to use the software. But tampering with stuff that you DIDN'T create and DIDN'T purchase is AGAINST THE LAW!

Taking the original work of someone and changing it to suit your own needs then passing it off as your own work is ILLEGAL.

Taking something someone created, copying it, then passing it around for free or a lower price hurts the original creator. Explain how this in any way is good?

[nskrishna2]

@-_-

Movies are somehow surviving on Netflix, Music; people are still buying on iTunes, and for the people who don't, they cover up the losses by endorsment deals and live performances

Can a Video Game do that?

[Elwenil]

@-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"But copying is not theft, didn't you notice that when you copy something, the person whom you copied it from still has it?"

So let's say I ride by your house and I see your car in the driveway and I like it. I just happen to have this nice replicator device in my pocket so I make me a copy of it and drive away. No big deal right? You still have your car and I have complemented you by copying it and driving one just like it. No harm done.

Now lets say that you made that car yourself and you make others like it to sell to the public to make money to support yourself and your family. And now I decide I want one but no, I'm not going to come to you and purchase one, I'm going to just replicate it and drive off. Whoa, now it's a big problem because you lose a sale. And you will lose a sale for all the ones my friends replicate off mine and the ones off those, and on down the line. Pretty soon you are bankrupt, can no longer produce your cars, can no longer support yourself and family and all your loyal customers that purchased your car legally now have to turn to another company to buy their next car. Eventually this will happen to other companies as they raise the prices on the legal consumer to offset the cost of the losses from illegal copies until few can afford them and the company goes out of business.

Piracy and theft by copying is the destruction of whatever industry it is involved in. If piracy is allowed to grow unhindered, the system will collapse. No more games, no more music, no more software. No one will be able to produce it since no one is buying it. Without paying customers, the company cannot pay their workers, designers, programmers, musicians, etc. Pirates are a cancer that must be cut out and eliminated for the good of all gamers, music fans and users of any electronic media that is bought and sold.

[zag]

Oh cool so you won't mind me ripping you off when you make something.

So when you say that do you expected to be paid for any work you do at your job? or are you fine with working for free and not getting paid anything.

As gene simmions says "you can have a roof over your head for free but without money you can't put food on the table."

[kane_1371]

@ -_-_-_-_-_-_-

Music industry haven't you...

what ever, no point arguing with a kid

[Senden]

@ Elwenil

Rofl, reading your response reminds me of the piracy episode of south park. You make it sound like piracy will collapse the world as we know it. Last time I checked the music industry was still filled with rich untalented hicks who have the audacity to call themselves "artists". Hollywood is still churning out loads of garbage films and ruining cult classics with depressing remakes and PC gaming is still going big.

The ones who get hurt are the ones who don't adapt. Music industry is doing fine thanks largely to things like itunes. The film industry is doing well thanks to online rental services which offer great deals for their customers and PC gaming is doing fine thanks to services like Steam.

Piracy was born and has flourished because of how our society works. The rich (movie/music industries) want as much money as possible while the poor want to save as much money as possible.

I don't think piracy is half as bad as anyone will have you believe. Out of everyone I know, with a few exceptions with some of my online gamer buddies, I'm the only one I know that has at any stage of my life, pirated anything and that was when I was in my late teens when I couldn't afford to buy everything I wanted. Now at 24, I never pirate anything because finally the industry is adapting making it more viable for me to watch/listen to what I want legally without the need to spend stupid money each month.

Then console piracy.. it isn't nowhere near as big as some of you make out. Look at game sales figures across the Xbox 360 and PS3.. go try and look for a game which had considerable higher sales on the PS3 than the 360.. you can't can you? With the exception of former playstation exclusive games like Final Fantasy, most multiplatform games have either higher sales on the 360 or roughly the same. It's just easier for Sony to go out and attack the gifted people who blow it's console open than to try and patch the problem. Ultimately this decision has cost Sony BIG.

[dantesparda]

And the Sony hate continues! If you read the comments left on that site, all the comments are just hate against Sony. I am no Sony lover or fanboy, the only Sony system i have ever owned is the PS3 (and that was 2 yrs after buying a 360). But the level of hate against Sony this gen is just ridiculous

[Eyeco]

you could say that, but you could also say that 80% of the time they've done it to themselves.

[babadivad]

I rarely comment(maybe 1st time ever) but there are far more Sony supporters on this site than anything else. They're fanboys from both sides but I'd say it's 65/35 Sony.

[Kahvipannu]

Like Eyego said, most of time they've done it to themselves. I have no grudge against sony, but this gen they have not mostly kept theyr promises, and this security breach should not ever happened, so I can understand peoples frustration against it.

[WhittO]

@ct03

Why shouldn't I cry about it?? I did nothing wrong, I didn't break the LAW but some other **** did and now me and other gamers have had our info stolen and no PSN service.

Why exactly shouldn't I cry about that again?

I don't know how you can say this is due to Sony AT ALL, would we even be talking about this had he not hacked the PS3 and shared it with others?? No.

[TheRealWar]

Its very simple really, dont let your network get hacked in the first place.

"...would we even be talking about this had he not hacked the PS3 and shared it with others?? No."

Obviously not. But its happened and someones head must roll.

[yavorsv]

Sony have disrespected and flat out robbed their customers and pretended that it was ok to do so. They are getting what they deserve.

[Cenobia]

@-_-_-_-_-_-_-

You are an idiot.

I bought my car, so I should be able to do whatever I want! I'll go as fast as I can and hit people crossing the street because the streets are for cars, those fudging morons!

This 'fight' is not about righteous hackers. They stole personal information (including trying to steal credit cards). I don't know wtf you are thinking but they aren't doing this for the greater good...they are doing it to cause panic for fun, and possibly make money off of the information they steal.

I can go 200 mph in my car if I do not use government roads (ie go to a track). You can modify your PS3 if you do not use PSN (an optional service provided by Sony). I do not understand how people can't seem to get this through their heads.

You have the option to buy a PC, so if you don't like what Sony does, stfu and stop buying their product for god's sake.

[solidworm]

Thats 5 seconds of my life i will never get back,zzz zzzz zzz

[Oldsnake007]

5 sec are still better than 2 weeks

[Falaut]

I clicked the article link. I knew I shouldn't have, but I did, now it smells like poo in my room.

Dammit.

[Max_Dissatisfaction]

You guys should really think about installing a bathroom/loo

[ElementX]

Zing! LMFAO.

[ironwolf]

Suggest you read the Reuters link at the bottom of the article.

[Tired]

Sorry but he should man up, it went down on his watch.

He should resign.

Disagree? I love Sony but someone has to take the bullet, He's going anyway...

[RememberThe357]

He should resign? Really? After all he did for that company? They might not even be around if it wasn't for him and he should resign because their network got hacked? I hate to brake it to you but any network can be hacked. But he should resign? Thats like saying a family needs to move out of the neighborhood because they got robbed.

People are blowing this way out of proportion. This will be fixed and we will be gaming again. Until then stop over reacting.

[Tired]

The fact remains that Sony dropped the ball.

Sony was threatened...by hackers...at this point risk assessment should have taken place. Sony should have hired people to find flaws in their network and take necessary precautions. Maybe they did I don't know.

Sony was firing a large number of people, people with inside intel on how the network works, I don't know how they do things at Sony but elsewhere people with this level of knowledge are usually phased out, kept on 'gardening leave' whilst inner workings are changed or until the sensitive information they are privy to ceases to be of any use.

Whoever it was and however they did it remains to be found out, perhaps we will never find out.

The removal of servers to another location suggests Sony are not 100% sure it wasn't an inside job. Maybe the fault lies with AT&T..who knows.

Unfortunately the buck stops with him, and I do believe that shareholders have the right to ask for his head on a stick.

I don't believe Sony should be subject to the amount of stick that they are getting, I believe the media are totally overreacting.
But the men at the top should be held accountable IF and only IF it transpires that they were lax or had not ensured that the company had done the UTMOST to provide due diligence to us the consumer.

I miss PSN x

[Jazz4108]

I have not sweated thi at all and have not missed a moment of on line gaming. That's the beauty od owning a 360 and a ps3.

[Tired]

@RememberThe357

This isnt about gaming...it's not about fanboys or brand loyalty. (SONY TILL I DIE! btw)

IT'S ABOUT BUSINESS. It's shareholders and investment. If stocks are falling then it's someones fault, they can oust him due to that fact alone.

It's their investment that they're looking after, they dont care about gamers or fantastic features, for them it wont blow over as quickly as it will for us...they dont get distracted by online multiplayer.

They WILL hold him accountable...it's his job.

[radphil]

You know what I find interesting?

Why didn't anyone string out BP's CEO when that major oil breakage happened in the Gulf of Mexico, considering it's labeled at the worst oil spill since the Exxon.

They just changed management and moved on.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

You think BP got off? BP was rapped over the coals...and deservedly so I might add. Their only saving grace in all that mess was they never once seemed to question or argue about them ponying up to pay for clean up. They were very pro-active on the PR front. I also think that CEO for BP had just taken over if I am not mistaken. Talk about a shitty promotion. LOL

[radphil]

" I also think that CEO for BP had just taken over if I am not mistaken. Talk about a shitty promotion. LOL"

That's what I'm getting at. Instead of chewing out the previous CEO they just had a new one shifted in at the time. :p

I know BP got chewed out, as they financially covered just about everything. I'm just wondering why there wasn't anything on about them going after the CEO out of all of this.

It's the direction people are taking their rage at.

One is about ID theft, the other was death(people died in that accident) and permanent environmental damage, yet I'm seeing way more seething rage about the ID theft one, as in people want blood letting.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@radphil ... I would guess if you really took a look at all the outlets and forums, etc... I am pretty sure the rage toward BP and the oil spill was much higher.

I think N4G and gaming forums tend to paint far worse pictures of how the real world is viewing this. I mean, yes...there are people raging at Sony because this is a huge hacking incident...but at the end of the day I still think most outside of hear are not thinking twice about it.

[Mikeyy]

Wan't to know a little conspiracy? BP makes more money with the Clean up than they do refining crude.

Look it up.

[soundslike]

Somehow BP had millions of blind followers who thought animosity towards BP, meant they'd lose their job and pay more taxes.

I wish I was kidding.

[ElementX]

Like Sonys millions of blind followers?

[joeorc]

I would Say there is a very good chance no new Playstation living room Game console going further after
the Playstation 3.

But The Other Point is it will not be the end of the line for the Playstation Brand. for one i can see The Playstation moving to services related product only.

Nice going hacker's you attack the only company out of the big three that supported Open Source!

you reap what you sow.

At least the Playstation platform moving to software only will be most likely be pure profit drivin going forward.

You do not need to be in the game console arena to compete in the game console arena, Apple proved that.

once again a non supporter of Open Source OS's.

Hey Sony is still supporting Android.

an Playstation Suite is on the Android OS. So you may get No playstation 4, but you can get Mobile devices from now on. or a platform stack that goes onto other systems.

Maybe just maybe we can even get 1st party AAA games made, but I think that may be a slim chance of that Happening now..you sure showed Sony.

For me I hope it happens an the Playstation 3 is the very last Home console Sony puts out. It would serve the Hacker's right.

[smoothdude]

This is a classic example of trolling.

[Dark_king]

Dont be stupid Sony will have another console.At this point they probably already spent millions on designing the PS4.The shareholders are not stupid enough to leave one of the most profitable products the company has alone.

[kesvalk]

of course they will ahve, this psn problems was big, okay, but they will not stop the Playstation like that (okay, the name will probably not be playstation, but anyway), companies don't desist like that...

[Chocoboh]

bwahahahaha Sony won't die you infedel the PS4 will be released sooner or later and Sony will probably partner with Google as well to bring some aspects of their software onto the console

the Playstation consoles are far from dead.. the amount of people who over react is outstanding. Probably from America

[Dark_king]

They probably are from America but so am I,please don't lump us all together.But really at this point in the PS2 life Sony had already spent over 100 million dollars designing the PS3.Same is probably true with the PS4.To think they would just give up and quite making systems because some security issues is laughable at best.

[RememberThe357]

Haha this is the point I was trying to make above. People are blowing this way out of proportion. Once the PSN is live again everyone is going to move on. Stop acting like this is the end of an era. The Playstation is not going anywhere and we're getting a new console in 2013/2014 just like we would have. The NGP is going to launch and be awesome, and the new PS3 exclusives are going to kick ass.

Some of you guys are talking like little kids with no perspective. This is not the end of the world. When the PSN goes back up it'll be back to the way it was before and all of you will conveniently forget about all you talk of doom and gloom.

[Max_Dissatisfaction]

Talk about bad timing. Wasn't he about to step down as CEO soon? Now its just gonna look like he was pushed out and Good Luck to Hirai, its gonna be a mission to convince shareholders that the next person to head SONY should be the guy whose division has caused this whole mess

[BabyTownFrolics]

dont the shareholders know that ps3 owners dont blame sony for the breach and how sony responded once they recognized the situation. shouldnt the shareholders be blaming the hackers? Dont they read N4G? Are the shareholders part of the anti sony conspiracy?

http://www.reuters.com/arti...

[Tainted Gene]

@ babytown

I really don't mean this as a jab to you, but your are very naive friend. Shareholders are like consumers in that they each only want one thing.

Consumers: product (quality, usage, longevity, etc.)
Shareholders: money

[BabyTownFrolics]

in your eyes who is more important the shareholders or the consumers? i have chosen to play it a bit naive as I have found being direct with my thoughts causes me to lose bubbles since this whole sony situation got started.

I enjoy my ps3, i miss psn, and I think sony is doing the best they can do, but I have found if your comments are critical of sony in the least or if your comments leave no room for nuance you run the risk of losing bubbles.

i have chosen to play it safe so to speak in order not to lose anymore bubbles.

[Troll-without-Bridge]

Let the dude leave and have a Japanese guy run the company. As its a japanese company to begin with.

[Max_Dissatisfaction]

I forget, who heads up SCE again? You know, the division thats in this mess? Hirai or something Japanese sounding...I forget. Anyway . . .

[Krakn3Dfx]

More Sony Doomsday articles littering the internet is exactly what we need!

This whole ordeal has turned into a witch hunt by Sony haters and politicians to destroy the credibility of a company trying to repair the damage created by hackers and Sony's own underestimation of what they needed from a security standpoint.

I didn't see the government stepping in when Monoprice got hacked, or Amazon, or a dozen other companies who had data compromised over the last decade. And yet when a company like Sony or Toyota has problems and try to resolve them, U.S. government feels the need to step in and put themselves in the spotlight antagonizing an already sticky situation, delaying resolution in the process.

Yes, we know you're there government overlords, continue enjoying free healthcare and accepting payoffs from dirty lobbyists and leave well enough alone.

[BabyTownFrolics]

my sources tell me they are coming for you next, you know too much

[Krakn3Dfx]

Probably, I am an indie game sympathizer.

[Chocoboh]

Don't worry folks once E3 hits the share holders will forget this mess even happened.

[Max_Dissatisfaction]

Unlikely, shareholders aren't necessarily gamers. This isn't just about games you see, this is about SONY as a whole and the announcement of a couple of exclusives is not going to make shareholders feel better about this debacle.
Shareholders want results. What you're saying will sound like this to them:
Ok listen shareholders, we know you put alot of money into the company and PSN being down for 2 weeks lost us alot of that money and the security breach made your shares worth a little less but he's our solution, we are going to spend more money to make new games that may or may not sell as much as the previous iterations. See LBP 2, Killzone 3, Motorstorm Apocalypse and SOCOM 4

[Dark_king]

Actually by E3 they may be happy.PSN issue will be over.Having a strong show can actually raise the price of shares.Just a mention that they are working on a PS4.Would attract investors,especially now while the shares being lower.

[Chocoboh]

what I mean is Sony will get good press and stock prices will rise from E3

people can't read between the lines now a days it seems

[joeorc]

an

I would not put it past Sony to have a co-op deal with Google at this point with the Playstation platform.

there already is the Playstation Suite, Xperia-play, S1 an S2 an Any Android OS 2.3 or Higher device can get the suite,an to top it Off GOOGLE TV. many kept asking for google Chrome on the PS3 it seems.

Why would you need a Game console if every Google TV enabled Device Like any TV could be a Playstation?

TV's are already in the living room.

IF you do not think it could happen, do not be shocked if it does, I would not be.

[fedexas]

Sony will overcome this eventually.

[ElementX]

I find it amusing that people have such blind devotion to a multinational corporation. They stand up for a company that only cares about money! Sure you can say Company X cares about it's customers, but truth is, they don't. Companies are out for money. They will say anything and apologize and bow down when they make mistakes, but it's only to appease the masses. Their minds are on profits and sales! Sony does not care about John Doe playing PS3 in his parents' basement, they want profits! Just like any other corporation.

I love my PS3, but I don't like Sony. I like my 360, but I'm not in bed with MS, either. I'm appalled that so many people stand up for some corporation who doesn't give a damn about them! Do you think Sony execs would point you out in a crowd and say "that man bought a PS3, we care about him!"? NO! They don't care WHO bought their console, only that it's selling. They don't give a damn about you so you shouldn't give a damn about them. "Apology is policy" -X-Files

[XabiDaChosenOne]

I find it amusing that your the umptenth person claiming how shocked they are a corporation has fans. Stop crying, get over it.

[blackburn5]

Everyone acts as if this the first time anyone has ever lost vital data or messed up or thought they were secure. Did they die out? Nope they took their lumps, got back up and moved on and still have customers and business to this very day. Everyone attacks Sony because they are liabe for what happened. Didn't mean that it was their fault. If you have a car in a parking lot and take responsibility for it and an object flies over the fence and breaks a windshield. Is it your fault? No. But you are held liable for it. There is a difference between being liable for something and it being your fault. You may have to take the blame if something happens but that doesn't automatically make you at fault.

@ ElementX if you were so against corporations you would have dropped Microsoft's lying butt a long time ago instead of having a 360. But RROD, that should have sent them into bankruptcy, was still supported by people like you. If you were so rightous you would have thrown their piece of junk back in their faces.

[gcolley]

what a crock

[Rettom]

Why are you disliking some comments that shouldn't be disliked? They are just trying to be funny, don't take it the wrong way.

[BigPenguin]

Lol, as a shareholder who made about 5k off Sony due to the earthquake and hacker scandal, all I can say is that anyone who did not immediately short all their stock when the earthquake happened is retarded. I purchased again on march 14th, and then pretty much shorted it again a few weeks later when PSN was first attacked by anon.

No real investor is pissed off about this. BTW, all you people saying heads need to roll for this are retarded, the stock price is pretty much the same as it was after the earthquake, about 15% lower from a month ago, and that as we all know, is temporary.

I have purchased Sony right before E3 for the past 3 years, you can bet I am going to do it again. (I currently own none)

[Dagobert]

Screw Howard Stringer, I'd rather see Hirai become the president of Sony.

[Mr Tretton]

And that way, I will be next in line to run Sony Network Entertainment! :D

Which means E3, in the nude!

[Xander756]

Hmm what happened to this sentiment: http://n4g.com/news/754963/...

[ASSASSYN 36o]

I am sure Sony will come out of this. The ps3 still plays games even though psn is down. I mean... the system IS future proof and I am sure Sony has a 'winter contingency plan'.

This going to be the most unique E3 in history. Good times a comin!

[Agent_hitman]

it's getting worst that ever,
1st it was developers/journalist bashing ps3 because of it architecture that is hard to develop, and more expensive
2nd ps3's controversy about it's price
3rd downgraded port of multiplat games
4th controversy about LG vs SONY lawsuit
5th Geohot VS SONY lawsuit
6th Controversy about hackers/anonymous group that hacked psn and soe
7th Threat to sony VS Investors..

WTF.. sony hold on tight, we goo\nna get through this

[gcolley]

1st - rightly so, no point having the best hardware if your software sux (and vice versa MS)
2nd - long term strategy
3rd - see 1st
4th - everyone sues everyone who cares
5th - Sony's lawyers tried every dirty trick in the book
6th - Rightly so
7th - Rightly so

[MWH]

lol at the news' picture, this man looks really pissed and has his Limit-Break meter built up full and ready to use.

[Mikeyy]

He's about to go one winged angel on the investors asses.

I feel bad for him. It truely is a burden knowing the truth, and everybody else attacking you for small potatoes.

Everybody acts like SONY had complete knowledge of the impending intrusion and just let it happen.

If somebody comes into a gas station with a gun and robs it, taking all the money in the register, and shoots the cashier dead. should the manager be fired for it happening on his watch?

Somethings just cannot be helped. You cannot stop a determined person from Robbing you.

[MWH]

it's an inter-galactic conspiracy man and Sony is a prime suspect in the "manufacturing and selling miseries in the form of entertainment" inter-galactic crime case.

[Treyb3yond]

Xbox still has no games so I'll stick with ps3 thanks. Online or off. ;-)

[MWH]

xbox has games and so is every other console, where do you live man? in Bin Laden's cave?

[Tr10wn]

I don't know.. but i have like 7 games right now and in the end of this year it will be like 13 so WTF are you talking about fanboy.

[Mr Tretton]

A lot of Xbot nonsensical disagrees on this page, get out of your parent's basements

[madara0sama]

Yeah. PSN downs means the end of PlayStation! /s
A couple months later most people won't even care about this anymore and only bring it up when they have nothing to discuss. People are taking this too seriously but nerds gonna be nerds.

Fricking hackers! Thisiswhywecanthavenicethingca t.jpg

[earbus]

My toast burnt this morning normaly reliable dam u hackers my bread is carcinogenic.

[Droid Control]

Stringer needs to go.

Sony need new management.

[DevilishSix]

Doesn't matter if you show Sony support for the PS3, it's out of your hands. It is well beyound some console war arguement or flamebait now. It is all about lawyers with pending law suits and shareholders that have a stake in the company. Hope the Playstation brand survives in the end.

[nano88]

If they got Osama trust me they will get them fuckers

[Droid Control]

This is why the WORLD hates america ^