European PlayStation Network Anti-Fraud Protection "Close"

US PlayStation Network users (and those getting their streaming goodness from Qriocity) already know how Sony plans to protect their identity, thanks to a 12 month bundled subscription to Debix's AllClear ID Plus service, but European gamers will have to wait a little longer. The European PlayStation Blog has confirmed that a "very similar" scheme is in the works, but will take a little longer to announce.

That's because, says head of communications at SCEE, Nick Caplin, "as is often the case here, with so many countries in our region, this is a very complicated thing to achieve" However he also insists that "we are close" to having an anti-fraud system implemented.

Sony promised to help enroll users in "identity theft protection services and/or similar programs" as part of its compensation package to gamers affected by the PSN outage. That will also include 30 days of free membership to PlayStation Plus for existing PSN users, or 30 days free service for those already using PlayStation Plus. "Selected PlayStation entertainment content" will be offered for free download, with titles selected on a region-by-region basis. Finally, Qriocity subscribers will get 30 days free service.