Rumor Patrol - PS3 to have integrated online?

Has Sony seen the light? Will the PlayStation 3 have an integrated online experience similar to Xbox Live after all? It seems they're at least hiring a PSP/PS3/PS2 network game integration engineer to help build "lobby functionality (e.g. matchmaking, content download)," "networking middleware for use by the teams" and "lessons learned/best practice for teams embarking on online projects." If nothing else, it sounds like Sony's online gaming story should, over time become more consistent. Some see it as evidence that the console leader is backing away from its earlier stance to leave the online experience to each individual developers. Others, not so much...