The online activism group Anonymous has denied insinuations by Sony that it was involved in the hacker breaches of the PlayStation Network (PSN) and Online Entertainment (SOE) systems in which between 77m and 100m personal details were stolen, and potentially as many credit card details.
The riposte was delivered in a letter published online soon after the corporation delivered a letter to US politicians in which it claimed that private investigators called in to examine the break-in had discovered a file entitled "Anonymous" and containing the words "We are Legion" - part of Anonymous's slogan.
The group issued a 900-word statement in which it insisted that it does not steal credit card data and that its aims are purely political - in marked contrast, it said, to its adversaries, who include Sony because of the action the company took against a number of users who had found ways around some protections built into the PlayStation 3 console.
Anonymous insisted: "If a legitimate and honest investigation into the credit card is conducted, Anonymous will not be found liable. While we are a distributed and decentralized group, our 'leadership' does not condone credit card theft. We are concerned with erosion of privacy and fair use, the spread of corporate feudalism, the abuse of power and the justifications of executives and leaders who believe themselves immune personally and financially for the actions they undertake in the name of corporations and public office."