In Perry v. Cable News Network, the Eleventh Circuit dealt another loss to putative class-action plaintiffs seeking to use the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) as a weapon against free online video services. The court affirmed that to be a “subscriber” of a video service—someone who can sue under the VPPA—one must have a genuine … Continue Reading
Last week, the Third Circuit adopted a narrow definition of “personally identifiable information,” or “PII,” under the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”), joining the majority of district courts that have addressed similar issues. The VPPA defines PII as information that “identifies a person as having [obtained a video]” from a video tape service provider (“VTSP”). … Continue Reading
In two cases last week, two courts entered widely divergent rulings on the central question of the specific definition of “personally identifiable information,” or “PII,” under the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”). The VPPA defines PII as information that “identifies a person as having [obtained a video]” from a video tape service provider (“VTSP”). In … Continue Reading
In another ruling that adopts a narrow reading of the term “personally identifiable information” (“PII”) in the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA), a New York district court held in Robinson v. Disney Online that a plaintiff failed to plead a VPPA claim against Disney based on Disney’s sharing a device ID and viewing information with … Continue Reading
On October 9, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed in Ellis v. Cartoon Network, Inc. that a person who downloads and uses a free mobile application to view freely available content is not, without more, a “subscriber” under the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”). Cartoon Network offers a free mobile app that people can download to watch … Continue Reading
