Sony Declines To Testify At Upcoming Congressional Hearing

Sony has chosen not to testify at a Congressional hearing this Wednesday that aims to shed light on how corporations protect private user information. The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade sent a letter to Sony last Friday, asking the company to attend a hearing and answer a set of thirteen questions regarding the way it handled the recent security breach of the PlayStation Network service. Ken Johnson, senior advisor and spokesman for committee chairwoman Mary Bono Mack, told the New York Times that Sony declined to testify at the hearing because of "an ongoing investigation" with law enforcement. The committee originally requested that Sony answer its questions by May 6, but pushed the deadline up to May 3 after Sony chose not to testify at the hearing. A Sony spokesperson told the Times that while the company will not attend the hearing, it will indeed answer the committee's questions on time despite its ongoing investigation. This Wednesday's hearing will help determine whether Congress needs to pass a federal breach notification law to protect consumers from future large-scale security breaches.