Hotmail suffers worldwide outage

Hotmail users around the world are having trouble gaining access to their e-mail accounts as Microsoft Corp. wrestles with technical difficulties.

“We're having some sporadic issues with the Windows Live login,” Microsoft Canada spokesman Paolo Pasquini said. “We'll be working as fast as possible to get up and running.”

Although Mr. Pasquini couldn't say just how many users, or how many countries, were affected by the intermittent blackouts, reports from blogs and chat rooms around the world cited problems with Microsoft's Windows Live portal, which provides users with access to the company's Hotmail e-mail service.

Mr. Pasquini said Microsoft had a dedicated team working to rectify the problem.

Windows Live Hotmail is available in 36 languages and boasts more than 280 million users worldwide, according to the Microsoft website