Apple Blames Internal Server Error For Widespread iTunes, App Store Outage

UPDATE: Apple blamed an internal server error for the widespread outage of its iTunes and App stores that impacted customers worldwide yesterday.  The problems appear to have been fixed.

The original story:

If you woke up this morning unable to access your iCloud, iTunes, iBooks, App Store, Game Center, etc. you're not alone. Apple is finally acknowledging the outage that's been happening for hours. See status update here. 

Disgruntled Apple users took to Reddit and Apple forums early this morning to report outages (which Apple effectively ignored on their status report page until moments ago) and instances where login services were timing out on both iOS and Mac App stores. At press time, Apple is reporting outages with iTunes, iBooks, the App Store, and the Mac App store affecting all users. 

Update: Apple's issued statement to CNBC, saying that the fault was due to an internal DNS error:

"We apologize to our customers experiencing problems with iTunes and other services this morning," reads a statement from Apple. "The cause was an internal DNS error at Apple. We're working to make all of the services available to customers as soon as possible, and we thank everyone for their patience."

As of 11:30am PDT, the outage remains active. Apple has posted this message on their system status page:

Multiple Store Services – All users are affected.
Customers may be unable to make purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, or Mac App Store.

View system status updates on Apple.com