The Hammer comes down -- on Sony

Oh boy!  Now Congress wants a piece of Sony.  Sadly no one will answer the questions they are asking.  Is this a good thing?  Doesn't sound like it.

In an announcement on Saturday, Sony said most PlayStation Network services will be restored this week. However, nearly 13 days after service came down, it remains down, and Sony's investigation into the matter continues.

Sony will soon answer Congress' questions.

It's this ongoing investigation for which Sony has enlisted the help of a private information security agency, the FBI's cybercrimes unit, and The Department of Homeland Security. Now, the company has announced it will cooperate with the US Congress by answering a series of questions put to it by the US House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.

The questions can be seen in the letter sent to Sony Corporation executive deputy president Kaz Hirai, which is online courtesy of the New York Times. Amongst the queries posed to the executive are:

--"When did you become aware of the illegal and unauthorized intrusion?" 
--"How did you become aware of the breach?" 
--"What information was obtained by the unauthorized individual(s) as a result of this breach, and how did you ascertain this information?" 
--"How many PlayStation Network account holders provided credit card information to Sony Computer Entertainment?" 
--"Please explain why you do not believe credit card information was obtained and why you cannot determine if the data was in fact taken."

Sony confirmed to GameSpot that company reps will not testify at the hearing tomorrow, but did say that they would provide answers to the government's questions before a Congress-imposed May 6 deadline.

"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," a Sony rep said. "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."