[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 163 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6849-H6851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          VIDEO PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2012

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6671) to amend section 2710 of title 18, United States Code, 
to clarify that a video tape service provider may obtain a consumer's 
informed, written consent on an ongoing basis and that consent may be 
obtained through the Internet.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6671

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Video Privacy Protection Act 
     Amendments Act of 2012''.

     SEC. 2. VIDEO PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT AMENDMENT.

       Section 2710(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(B) to any person with the informed, written consent 
     (including through an electronic

[[Page H6850]]

     means using the Internet) of the consumer that--
       ``(i) is in a form distinct and separate from any form 
     setting forth other legal or financial obligations of the 
     consumer;
       ``(ii) at the election of the consumer--
       ``(I) is given at the time the disclosure is sought; or
       ``(II) is given in advance for a set period of time, not to 
     exceed 2 years or until consent is withdrawn by the consumer, 
     whichever is sooner; and
       ``(iii) the video tape service provider has provided an 
     opportunity, in a clear and conspicuous manner, for the 
     consumer to withdraw on a case-by-case basis or to withdraw 
     from ongoing disclosures, at the consumer's election;''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Watt) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6671, currently under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.

                              {time}  1350

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Today I am pleased that we are considering a bipartisan bill to 
update the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988. This bill will ensure 
that a law related to the handling of videotape 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, 
D.C., newspaper obtained a list of videotapes the Bork family rented 
from its neighborhood videotape rental store. This disclosure caused 
bipartisan outrage, which resulted in the enactment of the Video 
Privacy Protection Act.
  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 
videocassette 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.
  This bill is extremely similar to H.R. 2471, which passed the House 
overwhelmingly a year ago. This newer version incorporates provisions 
suggested by the Senate that allows greater consumer flexibility in 
their video sharing habits. I support these enhancements to the bill.
  This bill updates the Video Privacy Protection Act to allow videotape 
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 simpler way. However, 
it protects the consumer's control over the information by requiring 
consumer consent before any of this occurs, 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. The bill we are 
considering today requires that the consent be distinct and separate 
from any other form setting forth other legal and financial 
obligations. Companies must provide consumers with the clear and 
conspicuous option to withdraw their consent to share at any time. 
Finally, a consumer's consent to share expires after 24 months unless 
the consumer chooses to opt in again.
  This bill is truly pro-consumer and places the decision of whether or 
not to share video rentals with one's friends squarely in the hands of 
the consumer. In fact, the cochairs of the Future of Privacy Forum 
correctly pointed out, in an opinion piece in Roll Call on November 29, 
2011, that ``the antiquated law on the books is a hindrance to 
consumers.''
  This legislation does not change the scope of who is covered by the 
VPPA or the definition of ``personally identifiable information.'' In 
addition, it preserves the requirement that the user provide 
affirmative, written consent.
  It's 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.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6671. Last year, I came to the 
floor to oppose the predecessor bill to this legislation, which we in 
the House passed and sent to the Senate. But today, I rise to support 
the amendments to the Video Privacy Protection Act contained in the 
bill because of important amendments to the bill that have been made in 
the Senate.
  I said when we debated the bill before, and I say now, that while I 
support innovation on the Web, I do not support it at the expense of 
consumer privacy. I believe the Senate amendments make for a strong 
bill, with more robust consumer protections, and respond, in many 
respects, to the concerns I raised about the prior bill.
  The Video Privacy Protection Act was passed in reaction to the 
unauthorized release of Judge Robert Bork's rental history during his 
contentious confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court and stands today 
as the gold standard for privacy protection.
  The amendments made by this bill would allow a video service provider 
to obtain universal, ongoing electronic consent from consumers to share 
their viewing history across social media like Facebook. The consumer 
would have to affirmatively opt in, and the service must provide a 
clear and conspicuous opportunity to withdraw the consent to share 
video viewing information at any time. Finally, advance consent may be 
valid for no longer than 2 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm satisfied that the amendments made in the Senate, 
before which I testified in opposition to the original bill, have 
adequately addressed the privacy-related concerns I expressed.
  Opt-in consent is widely regarded by privacy advocates as a vigorous 
protection for consumers. The requirement that the consumer must 
revisit the decision to share his video history reinforces the 
protections provided in the initial consent.
  And finally, the bill now allows what I suggested during the 
Judiciary Committee markup in the House, that the consumer be provided 
the option to give consent on a video-by-video basis, or in advance for 
all views until that consent is withdrawn, or until the expiration of 
24 months.
  Because of these important changes, I support the chairman in his 
effort to assist online companies to initiate creative options on 
behalf of their subscribers. While these are welcome improvements that 
allow me to support this bill, I remain concerned that the bill fails 
to provide needed updates to the Video Privacy Protection Act, in 
particular, and fails to consider implications for the ongoing national 
debate on privacy laws governing digital privacy.
  I continue to believe that the underlying Video Privacy Protection 
Act must be updated to address destruction of records in the online 
environment. Also, the damages provision should be updated to ensure 
that consumers are adequately compensated when harmed and that online 
companies are not unfairly penalized because of the reach of their 
media.
  Finally, I firmly believe that the provision in the Video Privacy 
Protection Act that requires a warrant for law enforcement to obtain 
consumer records must be preserved and that future debates on 
electronic consumer privacy reforms must not undercut those 
protections.

[[Page H6851]]

  I understand that the incoming chair of the Judiciary, my good 
friend, Mr. Goodlatte, agrees with most of these observations and will 
work with me to ensure that the Judiciary Committee, next year, tries 
to address some of these concerns.
  So, Madam Speaker, my concerns are not so much about what's in this 
bill as much as they are concerns about what is not in the bill. So I'm 
agreeing not to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
  I, therefore, ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the bill, 
but I also ask them to join me, in the next term of Congress, to 
protect consumer privacy and to update the outdated provisions of the 
Video Privacy Protection Act.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume to thank both the ranking member, the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Conyers), for his longtime support, as well as the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Lofgren), who I'm sure will have a word to say 
about this as well, and also the work that the gentleman from North 
Carolina, the ranking member of the subcommittee that I chair--and he 
has done a good job as the ranking member on--for working with us to 
find ground here that we could reach agreement upon.
  I will also say that I have a great interest in looking at the 
Electronic Communications Privacy Act and other privacy issues that 
need to be reviewed and modernized, and I hope that, in my new capacity 
as chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, we'll have 
the opportunity to work together on issues of that nature.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. WATT. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Conyers.
  Mr. CONYERS. I would like to let everyone know that the gentleman 
from North Carolina, who's worked on this and has pledged to continue 
to work on it, has my support for the new ideas. Well, they're not new. 
They're old ideas that just didn't get into this bill. And we're going 
to work on it together.
  I congratulate, of course, the chairman-elect of the Judiciary 
Committee, Mr. Goodlatte, for his long work and service on that 
committee and look forward to joining with him to continue the kind of 
bipartisanship that frequently is worked out in our committee.
  I believe this amended version of H.R. 6671 is a distinct improvement 
over its predecessor and urge that we continue the kind of vigilance 
that the gentleman from North Carolina, Mel Watt, has demonstrated in 
his zeal to protecting consumer privacy. Technology is constantly 
evolving. Each new development presents new opportunities and 
challenges to improve our lives. This bill is a good step toward 
addressing this technological development, and we must continue to 
monitor it to ensure consumer privacy continues to be protected.
  The language added by the Senate, the other body, improved the bill 
for consumers, and so I, too, urge my colleagues to support its passage 
today.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WATT. I yield such time as she may consume to a valued member of 
our Intellectual Property Subcommittee and a valued member of the 
Judiciary Committee, the gentlelady from California (Ms. Lofgren).
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. I thank you, Mr. Watt and Mr. 
Goodlatte. I am pleased that we've come together to support this good 
bill. This bill is going to allow consumers to share their video 
viewing habits as they see fit, and it will actually enhance consumer 
privacy without causing any significant detriment to providers of 
digital services.
  I agree that the Senate amendments actually improve the bill, and I 
think, also, that passing this bill is going to support and enhance 
emerging online video companies to grow and expand their services. I 
think it's important that we come together to make sure that our laws 
actually work well in the Internet environment, which this bill now 
does.
  I look forward to Congress working to do the same thing when it comes 
to the Electronic Privacy Act reforms we know that are necessary, even 
copyright reform, to make sure that the laws actually work with modern 
Internet services. The VPPA is a great start down this road. I look 
forward to voting in favor of it, and I commend all who worked on it.
  Mr. WATT. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join us in 
supporting the bill and working with us next year to address the things 
that are not in the bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I thank my colleagues for coming together on this 
legislation. I believe that it is very good legislation that modernizes 
the use of the Internet and the use of information that people want to 
share with each other. It makes it feasible to do that now in ways that 
newer users of the Internet have become used to with music and other 
things they share, and now they'll be able to do that with video, 
television, and movies and other things like that.
  So I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, H.R. 6671 makes a minor, overdue 
change to update the Video Privacy Protection Act. I thank the 
gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Goodlatte, for sponsoring this 
commonsense, bipartisan legislation.
  The Video Privacy Protection Act prohibits video stores from 
disclosing certain ``personally identifiable information'' of their 
customers.
  In the event of an unauthorized disclosure, an individual can sue in 
civil court for damages. But the law has always allowed some personally 
identifiable information to be released in limited circumstances, such 
as in response to a court order or when the customer gives their prior, 
written consent.
  However, the technologies of entertainment are changing. Today, 
consumers are just as likely to stream a movie from the Internet as 
they are to rent a movie from a video store. And when people view 
entertainment on the Internet, often they like to share their 
activities with friends through social media like Facebook and Twitter.
  Under current law, the social media sites would have to obtain 
written consent each time someone wishes to share their video choices.
  H.R. 6671 does not change the prohibition on disclosure of personal 
information or expand the exceptions when information can be disclosed. 
It does not change the requirement for informed, written consent by a 
consumer. It simply allows the consumer to consent once before using 
new social media programs to share their movie or TV show preferences.
  An earlier version of this bill passed the House last year, by a vote 
of 303 to 116. In the Senate, two amendments were adopted to make the 
bill even more consumer friendly. This new version adopts these 
amendments to accommodate concerns about consumer choice and privacy.
  H.R. 6671 adopts an amendment proffered in mark-up by Congressman 
Nadler, which requires the consumer consent agreement to be in a 
completely separate form apart from the other contract details.
  In addition, H.R. 6671 adopts two Senate amendments that place 
limitations on how consent is obtained from consumers. The bill now 
limits the disclosure agreement to 2 years.
  The bill also requires the video provider to give consumers easy 
options to end the sharing agreement. These changes will ensure that 
consumers are aware they are sharing information and are voluntarily 
taking part.
  Rather than dramatically alter the Act's existing provisions, H.R. 
6671 keeps the vast majority of the Act in place and simply modernizes 
the way in which consumers can give their informed consent. This bill 
brings the Video Privacy Protection Act into the 21st century. And the 
changes adopted made from the previous bill increase consumer 
protection from the beginning of the process to its end.
  I again thank my colleague from Virginia, the Chairman-Elect of the 
Judiciary Committee, Mr. Goodlatte, for his work on this important 
issue. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6671.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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