[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 101 (Friday, July 8, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1276-E1277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO UPDATE THE VPPA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 8, 2011

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, today I am joined by my colleagues, 
Representatives Coble, Sensenbrenner and Sanchez in introducing a 
bipartisan bill to update the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988, 
VPPA. This bill will ensure that a law related to the handling of video 
tape rental information is updated to reflect the realities of the 21st 
Century.
  The VPPA was passed by Congress in the wake of Judge Robert Bork's 
1987 Supreme Court nomination battle, during which a local Washington, 
DC, newspaper obtained a list of video tapes the Bork family rented 
from its neighborhood video tape rental store. This disclosure caused 
bipartisan outrage, which resulted in the enactment of the VPPA.
  The commercial video distribution landscape has changed dramatically 
since 1988. Back then, the primary consumer consumption of commercial 
video content occurred through the sale or rental of prerecorded video 
cassette tapes. This required users to travel to their local video 
rental store to pick a movie. Afterward, consumers had to travel back 
to the store to return the rented movie. Movies that consumers rented 
and enjoyed were recommended to friends primarily through face-to-face 
conversations. With today's technology, consumers can quickly and 
efficiently access video programming through a variety of platforms, 
including through Internet Protocol-based video services--all without 
leaving their homes.
  Our proposed amendment updates the VPPA to allow video tape service 
providers to facilitate the sharing on social media networks of the 
movies watched or recommended by users. Specifically, it is narrowly 
crafted to preserve the VPPA's protections for consumers' privacy while 
modernizing the law to empower consumers to do more with their video 
consumption preferences, including sharing names of new or favorite TV 
shows or movies on social media in a simple way. However, it protects 
the consumer's control over his information by requiring consumer 
consent before any of this can occur. And, it makes clear that a 
consumer can opt-in to the ongoing sharing of his or her favorite 
movies or TV shows without having to provide consent each and every 
time a movie is rented. It also makes clear that written, affirmative 
consent can be provided through the Internet and can be withdrawn at 
any time.
  This amendment does not change the privacy standard adopted by 
Congress when the VPPA was first enacted. Specifically, it preserves 
the requirement that the users provide affirmative, written consent.

[[Page E1277]]

  It is time that Congress updates the VPPA to keep up with today's 
technology and the consumer marketplace. This bill does just that.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this important piece 
of legislation.

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