Is Osama really dead?
Did Pakistan have something to do with it?
Now that he’s dead will this make the world a safer one?
Tough questions, but I think this one’s more of a “finish what you started” thing rather than something that will actually lead to a safer world.
Let’s go down a totally different tangent and look at Sony.
In an attempt to stop its PlayStation 3 (PS3) system from being hacked for use with other operating systems, the company took the one responsible for the original crack to court.
Sony eventually settled with the man, after he promised to stay away from the PS3.
Only a few weeks later though, PlayStation has effectively had its head chopped off, with the PlayStation Network (PSN) being hacked and 77 million people’s information, likely including credit cards, being lifted. Now has the elimination of that one hacker really saved the world of PlayStation?
The network has now been down for more than three weeks and the prognosis isn’t looking better for Sony, with the announcement that it may take until the end of May to get the online service running again.
The outage is now estimated at over $1 billion in lost revenue to the gaming industry that
relies on PSN, like developers that sell games through the network and whose multiplayer games run over the network.
I think the waiting is starting to strain on PlayStation users, who have had really no idea when the network will be back online.
To me, the war on Sony and the war on terror are alike, aside from the obviously more serious tone that one has over the other.
It’s important not to overestimate the importance of one man, because there are millions of others out there who are just as cunning as bin Laden, but there’s also a new emerging terrorism. While the Sony hack isn’t really going to end the world, there are probably networks out there that have a lot more hanging on them than virtual bombs and airplanes.
Hopefully somebody learns from this, and hopefully Sony gets it together soon, because Xbox is looking pretty good right about now.
– Arne Petryshen is a reporter for the Grand Forks Gazette