Entertainment Technology News

Facebook and Netflix: A Match Made in Cyber-Heaven?

By Studentfilmmakers.com
posted Dec 9, 2011, 14:48

(San Francisco, CA) - For those Facebook users who wish they could search for friends' movie recommendations may not have to wait too much longer. Netflix, the film distribution company whose ubiquitous emblematic red envelopes have become a godsend for stay-at-home cinema lovers, has developed a feature that gives subscribers the option to advertise their streaming video viewing activity to others on the social networking website.

Though it has been available to international customers since September, the service has not yet been offered in the United States due to the restrictions of the Video Protection Privacy Act, a 1988 law passed in response to a newspaper's publication of judicial nominee Robert Bork's video rental list. On December 6 the House of Representatives voted 303-116 to pass HR 2471, a bill that would amend section 2710 of title 18 to allow a video service provider to obtain a consumer's informed, written consent on an ongoing basis. This consent may be obtained through the Internet, a provision of particular importance as Netflix does not have any brick-and-mortar stores which customers could visit and physically sign the necessary forms.

Though many regard the legislation as a much-needed update to a decades-old law that could not anticipate the evolution of media sharing, some believe it to be another instance in which consumers cede the power of information to corporate interests. President of the Electronic Privacy Information Center Marc Rotenberg states that "blanket consent provisions transfer control from the individual user to the company in possession of the data and diminish the control that Netflix customers would have in the use and disclosure of their personal information."

If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, the provision will provide Netflix with an additional opportunity to attract new customers. Such a development may prove to be a much-needed windfall for the company which has been smarting after the loss of over 800,000 customers during the summer months in the wake of its twin announcements of a 60 percent price increase and the planned separation of its DVD-by-mail into a service called Qwikster.





Resources:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/house-updates-1988-privacy-law-to-allow-online-sharing-of-netflix-choices.ars

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/12/netflix-facebook-app-one-step-closer-to-reality.html