May 3rd, 2011
Sony Declines to Testify at Congressional Hearing
The New York Times
Sony has declined to testify at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, “The Threat of Data Theft to American Consumers,” that seeks to understand how consumers’ private data is protected by corporations.
Last week Sony’s PlayStation Network was infiltrated by hackers who gained access to highly sensitive information about its customers. The gaming network has 77 million registered users. Representative Mary Bono Mack, the chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, asked the company to answer a set of questions and attend the hearing.
Ken Johnson, senior adviser and spokesman for Representative Mack, said Sony declined to testify at the hearing citing “an ongoing investigation” it is conducting with law enforcement.
The subcommittee sent a letter to Sony on Friday asking the company to answer a number of questions related to the attack by May 6. After Sony declined to testify to the committee, the deadline to respond to questions was pushed up to May 3.
A sony spokesperson said in an e-mail message: Sony is cooperating with the request for answers to the Committee’s questions, and in fact will be providing our responses in advance of the deadline. We informed the committee that we could not appear as early as this Wednesday because of our ongoing intensive investigation and management of this criminal cyberattack.