Netflix Video Sharing Bill Working Way Through Capital Hill

HR 2471, the vidoe sharing bill that would enable Netflix customers to share viewing information on Facebook, is working its way through Capital Hill. Tech of the Hub is following the "action" closely and reports that it passed the House of Representatives.

Listening to the debate, there seems to be some confusion about what happens to your viewing data after you consent to sharing. Listening to Congressman Watts and Johnson, there was an implication that viewing data could then be sold to third parties.

In the end, there was enough opposition to the bill to force a vote by the entire House of Representaties. Later in the afternoon, the vote passed overwhelmingly 303 - 116. For the bill to become law, it needs to still pass the Senate and be signed by the President.

Comments

[Elo]

Our fucking congress is voting on this? Don't you guys have a country to run?

[ScottZ]

@Elo
LOL, Congress must have some extra time between telling Obama NO! for whatever he wants to do and bashing Obama for not doing enough.

[What?]

Let me say, here and now, I do not give any permission whatsoever for Netflix to share anything about me.

If I want my FB friends to know that I watched something, I can post that myself.

Netflix and FB pretend that this law "enables" users, when in fact users are not restricted from sharing this info themselves. This law was designed solely to allow the gatekeepers to make even more money off of our personal info.

Write to your Senators and let them know this law is unnecesary, unwanted and destructive to the privacy of consumers.

[moviegeek]

Netflix and Facebook must have some good lobbyists to push this through, how does sharing info benefit the general public? Can someone please explain to me how this will generate revenue for Netflix? I think it will only generate revenue for Hastings and Zuckerberg.

I certainly don't want my rental info public.

[Ha!]

and here come the conspiracy theorists

christ hahaha

[al]

@ELO these assholes couldn't run water

[Ha!]

"Can someone please explain to me how this will generate revenue"

how about if a person shares that they loved a movie they just streamed on netflix, with a link to the movie on netflix

this lets their friends know that something they enjoyed is on netflix, whereby adding more potential customers

are you that dull?

[Greg]

You have to opt-in for your information to be sharable. By default, the current restrictions on privacy remain.

Netflix is doing this because currently other streaming companies (Hulu, Amazon, etc.) *can* share your watching habits; Netflix is restricted because it also rents physical discs.

[Nate]

I am not on Facebook, nor do I want to be. I don't trust the company and find it worrisome they are latching on to so many companies. They're tied to everyone, half the news sites for my area won't allow comments unless you're a facebook user.

[moviegeek]

Just remember that Hastings is the the Facebook board which is a private company(will go IPO next year) so they can pay themselves whatever they want under the table.

I still don't understand how this will benefit NFLX stockholders and the general public.

BTW: I'm not "dull", I'm a party animal.

[What?]

@Ha!

You may think only the tinfoil hat club need worry, but this simple modification to the existing law will allow Netflix and any other website to bury permission in thier TOS or click-thru licensing terms and make the language broad enough to cover any use they can dream up.

Check back in a few months when you start getting emails from pr0n companies because you streamed a John Waters film, or when your church group asks via FB how you can watch so many slasher films.

No company spends this kind of lobbying cash to get laws changed simply "for the convenience of their customers" out of the goodness of their hearts. This is the gateway to big bucks selling our info.

[Ha!]

You may think only the tinfoil hat club need worry, but this simple modification to the existing law will allow Netflix and any other website to bury permission in thier TOS or click-thru licensing terms and make the language broad enough to cover any use they can dream up.

Check back in a few months when you start getting emails from pr0n companies because you streamed a John Waters film, or when your church group asks via FB how you can watch so many slasher films.

No company spends this kind of lobbying cash to get laws changed simply "for the convenience of their customers" out of the goodness of their hearts. This is the gateway to big bucks selling our info.

yea yea yea

i hope this passes just so in the comments we can talk again when what you're claiming will be fact never happens

[Philippe]

"website to bury permission in thier TOS"

Actually, the law that just made it through the house specifically forbids this:

Quote:
==============================
(B) to any person with the informed, written consent (including through an electronic means using the Internet) in a form distinct and separate from any form setting forth other legal or financial obligations of the consumer given at one or both of the following times—
(i) the time the disclosure is sought; and
(ii) in advance for a set period of time or until consent is withdrawn by such consumer
==============================

Full text: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr2471eh/pdf/BILLS-112hr2471eh.pdf

[What?]

If the law passes and all of the companies miraculously behave themselves and obey the "spirit" of their claims, I will humbly bow to your superior wisdom. However, take a look at how "responsible" FB and Spotify have been with their recent partnership (i.e., forced sign-ups, opt-out after the fact instead of opt-in, glitches that cause opt-outs to be ignored, sharing invisible to users, etc.)

Regardless, the change in the law is still completely unnecessary because anyone that wants to share their viewing habits can do so now.

[Ha!]

"Regardless, the change in the law is still completely unnecessary because anyone that wants to share their viewing habits can do so now."

we fundamentally disagree here

and i'm not surprised you can't figure it out frankly

[What?]

@Philippe

That's different from the version I saw here which reads:

SECTION 1. 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 means using the Internet) of the consumer given at one or both of the following times:

‘(i) The time the disclosure is sought.
‘(ii) In advance for a set period of time or until consent is withdrawn by such consumer.’.

Even still, if they can't bury it in the TOS, they can make the privacy explanation for the "connect to Facebook" so lengthy and cumbersome that the general user will simply click-thru without spending the 15-20 minutes it would take to read the whole thing.

[Crow550]

Well apparently were all drones and need Facebook to post everything for us....

:P

1. Where did it say it was opt-in?

2. If it is opt-in can I opt-in to share select Titles and not have them all be on automatic share?

Well see....

This is gonna make a boat load of cash for Netflix.

[What?]

@Ha!

Are you saying that current law prevents you from logging onto FB and updating your status with, "just watched Network on Netflix IW...great classic flick"?

[Ha!]

"Even still, if they can't bury it in the TOS, they can make the privacy explanation for the "connect to Facebook" so lengthy and cumbersome that the general user will simply click-thru without spending the 15-20 minutes it would take to read the whole thing."

so what you're saying is, you're wrong, buttttt you refuse to admit it

gotcha!

[Ha!]

"@Ha!

Are you saying that current law prevents you from logging onto FB and updating your status with, "just watched Network on Netflix IW...great classic flick"?"

I'm saying that takes more work than netflix being integrated

If one of my friends streams a movie they particularly liked, i'd like to know about it, and have an easy button to add it to my instant queue

right now that's not easy, which means that my friends currently won't post something to that effect

following the passage of this bill, it will be easy.

simple really. again, not surprised you can't follow.

[What?]

@Ha!

gotcha!

What, are we on the gradeschool playground?

If the current version of the bill running through is the version offered by Phillipe, I stand corrected on my statement regarding TOS and humbly apologize. However, given that there is more than one version of the bill available online, I think you can understand the confusion and cut me a little slack. I did look it up before posting.

[Mike S]

Whoever thinks Facebook won't abuse this new intrusion is sadly deluded. What if I don't want to share? Will not creating the link between accounts be enough? how many new users will sign off on that intrusion unknowingly?

If there is a programmatic pathway to find it, I suspect the only way I can keep them separate is to not have a Facebook account at all. Which, increasingly, seems to be the only sane approach.

[What?]

Except this will likely entail everything you watch being posted to FB, ala the Spotify integration. So how will you differentiate the titles your buddy really likes from the haystack of the full catalog of his daily views? Once you are swamped with a complete recount of the viewing habits of all your friends, how will you separate the wheat from the chaff? Or will you quickly begin to ignore these postings the way most people ignore Farmville updates? Where's the value in that?

Even if it doesn't involve full disclosure, how much time does it really take to type an update and maybe add a link? Is this process so cumbersome that it requires legislation to relieve the tremendous burden from the shoulders of the general public? Have we all gotten that lazy?

And how many titles are worthy of that much note? Honestly, I can't rememeber being passionate about so many movies and TV shows that informing my friends became prohibitively time-consuming.

However, I would be willing to bet that Zuckerberg can make good use of that mountain of data.

Whatever, as long as it is clear and easy to decline this integration and there is no "beneath the surface" sharing like there was with Beacon, I don't care. Have fun with your fun new toy, bought-and-paid-for by Hastings and Zuckerberg.

[Ha!]

what? needs a new hobby i think.

[moviegeek]

Me thinks Ha! is a Netflix or Facebook shill, why is anyone so passionate about sharing what they watched? Seriously I couldn't care less what my old high school friends are watching.

[gir]

This is probably a good thing for those who want to share - better that the NetFlix's Friends thing in the long run. If they did change the wording of the law to require separate and independent opt-in, I applaud them.

That said I don't trust anything facebook.

[Gobotron]

If I want to share what I'm watching, I 1) don't want people to know at that moment; when people see you're at home, they figure you're available and call or chat, 2) I only mention what I'm watching (or doing, or buying, or eating, or observing) if I have something specific to say about it and feel the very limited people on my friends list might like to know.

[Dad]

What are we the United States of Facebook? Be glad when that company goes the way of MySpace and pretty much goes out of business

[bigqueue]

>Can someone please explain to me how this will generate revenue for Netflix?

I think it's stupid too, but it's obvious how this can (yes, you said "will") generate revenue for Netflix.

1) You're watching movie(s) on netflix, and allow it to post to FB
2) Your friend notices the movie(s) you're watching on netflix
3) possibly after a while, they notice "Hmm, Netflix has a lot of movies I like" (since you often like movies your friends like), and they subscribe to netflix

This law is necessary to counteract PREVIOUS laws that forbid sharing of video rental activity, after a court nominee (IIRC) had his dirty rental info printed.

> For the bill to become law, it needs to still pass the Senate and be signed by the President.

The author of the article needs to study our government more. It could be vetoed by the President and then overridden.

[Walt D in LV]

I am very much looking forward to this law coming into effect if it will allow Netflix to better associate with Facebook. I am one of the the many that was greatly disappointed when Netflix abandoned their Friends features.

Yes, I can easily post myself, on Facebook, if I watch a movie and how much I liked, or disliked it. However, I'd like it to be automated. I already use the add-on Friends of Netflix. Netflix-Facebook integration would be the next best thing to Netflix Friends.

I really enjoy Netflix and the anger, disappointment, and frustration caused by the removal of features such as Friends, NAMED Member Reviews, Top 10 Lists, etc. is only softened by the lowering of their prices, which of course, they did a few months back (My DVD/Blu-ray plan is $4 cheaper now since I was able to cancel Streaming, which I don't use due to the poor quality video and ESPECIALLY audio).

[a]

Capitol Hill is spelled with an O.