That is very standard legal. If they did so, the impending class action would already be over.

I wouldn't be surprised if that blog post cost them well into 6 figures for legal fees. And that it took the full week to draft and approve--it is probably the reason this announcement took so long to emerge.

True. Big incidents like this require for companies, in this case Sony, to carefully choose their words. They are obliged to inform their customers.

The Japanese announcement is full of apology:

"2011年4月21日よりPlayStation®NetworkおよびQriocity™の障害が継続しており、お客様および関係各位に多大なるご迷惑をおかけしておりますことを深くお詫び申しあげます。"

Which is a polite and flowery way of apologizing for the ongoing interruption of service.

http://cdn.jp.playstation.com/msg/sp_20110427_psn.html

True, they are different probably because this (the Japanese announcement) is from Sony Corporation, and the link in English is probably from Sony Corporation of America.

In Japan lawsuits are less common, and an apology is expected even if it's not your fault, so it shouldn't hurt their legal defense if they apologize. I think it won't be interpreted as an admission of guilt like it could be in America.

Would you mind giving a rough translation of that? Google Translate is doing a terrible job, and I speak absolutely no Japanese.

We sincerely apologize to our customers and other parties who are affected by the continuing service impairment of the Playstation Network since April 21st.