Netflix settles privacy suit $9 million

[tangor]

On Friday, Netflix filed an agreement to pay $9 million to settle the class action suit, which was originally submitted in January 2011.

The lawsuit was filed in support of two Virginia residents, Jeff Milans and Peter Comstock, in San Francisco's federal court. The plaintiffs brought the case under the Video Privacy Protection Act--a law passed in 1988 that makes it illegal for video rental services to share information on what their customers watch. They alleged that Netflix broke this law by keeping the records o

[news.cnet.com...]

[Marshall]

The story is thin on details, but no where did it mention Netflix shared information, just that they kept it on file for up to two years after an account was cancelled. Using that premise, the fact they keep records of what you watched on active accounts, does that too violate the referenced law? IMHO, it sounds like one of those deep pocket lawsuits and nothing more.

Marshall

[tangor]

[ctv.ca...]

Based on a 1988 law in a single State, Netflix apparently had sufficient info on RETURNING COSTUMERS to REACTIVATE their interests and serve them what they wanted. No Sharing of Info... apparently just kept it. And after settling same saw a boost in sales/income.

[Marshall]

I will stick with my previous opinion. Previous lawsuits were the direct results of authorities obtaining records without a warrant, which is a violation of the Forth Amendment in itself. I would be curious to know if the plaintiffs were in any way harmed by Netflix retaining the information. Granted, they did violate the law by going over the one year limitation, but seriously, I do not see any malice on their part. So again I say it is nothing more than a deep pocket lawsuit, something we in the US are so adept at pursuing.

Marshall