Consumers Argue Video Privacy Law Applies To Web Streams

Consumers who sued Hulu for alleged privacy violations are urging a federal judge to reject the company's argument that it isn't covered by the federal video privacy law.

Hulu's contention that the Video Privacy Protection Act only applies to brick-and-mortar stores is "disingenuous at best," the consumers argue in a 19-page reply filed last week with the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. They say that Hulu's bid to distinguish streaming videos from DVDs or videocassettes is "akin to the argument that an email is not a document because it exists exclusively in cyberspace." The lawsuit was sent to mediation earlier this week, but that doesn't necessarily signal that it will be resolved; many cases in federal court are referred to dispute resolution programs but then return to court if the parties aren't able to come to an agreement.