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Senate Judiciary Committee Discusses Video Privacy Protection

Senate Judiciary Subcmte. Hearing on the Video Privacy Protection Act

Washington, DC
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee (Chairman Al Franken, D-MN)  of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Video Privacy Protection Act (PL 100-618) and its modern applications.

The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), created to prevent the "wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sale records," was signed into law in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan. It makes any "video tape service provider" that discloses rental information outside the ordinary course of business liable for up to $2500 in actual damages. The law has been cited in lawsuits against Blockbuster, Netflix, and Facebook.

Witnesses include Netflix general counsel David Hyman, University of Minnesota Law School professor William McGeveran, and Electronic Privacy Information Center executive director Marc Rotenberg.

Updated: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:51am (ET)

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