Continuing the ongoing saga of what’s now stretching into month number 2, Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment announced on Friday that Sony Network Entertainment International, began a phased restoration of network services in the Japanese market. Likewise, Sony is flipping the switch for Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Presumably meeting Japanese officials concerns, Sony is also rolling out a new identity protection program for both PSN and Qriocity customers.
As part of the “new” rollout, Sony proudly introduced the world to their increased security procedures. Sony says that it’s made “considerable” enhancements to their data security, including updating and adding advanced security technologies, more software monitoring and penetration and vulnerability testing, and rounding out the field with more firewalls and increased encryption.
“I’d also like to send my sincere regret to customers in Japan and Asian countries and regions for the inconvenience these events have caused you,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation in a statment. “We are taking aggressive action including increasing security measures and working with respective authorities to address the concerns that were raised by this incident. We are making consumer data protection a full-time, company wide commitment so that our customers can rest assured about enjoying their entertainment.”
On the other side of the Pacific, Sony’s got another fire to put out. Without getting into the “Umm, no thanks,” answer that Sony gave congress when requested to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, it would appear that California representative Mary Bono Mack would still like a few more answers.
The Atlantic is reporting that Sony Network chief Tim Schaff will now appear before congress to address these loose ends. Amongst the questions that Schaff is expected to clarify is that nagging one about why Sony waited so long to notify the public about the security breach.
“While Chairman Bono Mack remains critical of Sony’s initial handling of the data breaches, she also is appreciative that the company has now agreed to testify,” subcommittee aide Ken Johnson told The Atlantic. “We expect to introduce that legislation, which will provide new safeguards for American consumers, in the next few weeks.”
While I certainly wouldn’t want to be in Schaff’s, or Sony’s for that matter, shoes, this fiasco could have a light at the end of the tunnel. While Schaff’s getting grilled, it does provide us, and others around the world, with a time to analyze what happened, and how to safeguard against it in the future. Or at least update some systems until the h4x0rs evolve and break down these new layers of defense.
Now, 
This Sony/HBO deal marks the first time that HBO content is available for purchase (Menu>TV Shows>Networks>HBO) on any gaming system within the U.S. And while a great step forward, it appears as though Sony is still playing catch-up with Microsoft’s Xbox, which while not offering HBO, has a massive amount of consumable entertainment available to it’s users, and of course, the massive content beast that is iTunes. No, iTunes itself is not a gaming system, but chances are, you can play games on the device that you run iTunes from.
….and in other ‘content in the cloud’ news, cloud based video game streaming service Gaikai has recently announced an influx of $10M+ from a series B investment round. TriplePoint Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, and series A leaders, Benchmark Capital have all contributed. Gaikai has also received investment funds from an un-named partner.
According to VG247, they’ve been in contact with a “highly-placed” source at Sony, and that the company will announce a large-scale monetization project at 
