Sony Computer Entertainment has spun off PlayStation.com as a separate arm of the mega-firm to handle the company's online game initiatives. The Foster City, California-based division will oversee Sony's e-commerce and online distribution of Sony's games, music and movies. On Tuesday, January 30, 2001, the Website will begin to sell the tough-to-obtain PlayStation 2 gaming console. There are already plans in the works to spin the division off in a public stock offering or tracking stock. Kazuo Hirai, president and COO of Sony Computer Entertainment America and president of PlayStation.com, said, "By creating a subsidiary organization to manage the PlayStation.com business, we are demonstrating that Sony Computer Entertainment America is taking full advantage of the potential offered by the Internet."
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