Hulu Scores A Victory (At Least Temporarily) In Avoiding Class Certification

Another important decision has been rendered in the ongoing In re: Hulu Privacy Litigation saga pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, this time denying – without prejudice – the proposed certification of a class of Hulu users pursuing claims involving Hulu's allegedly wrongful disclosure of "cookies."  This class certification decision comes hot on the heels of the Hulu court's denial of summary judgment in favor of Hulu back in April, when the court found there to be a material issue of fact on the issue of whether the disclosure of a video name tied to an identified Facebook user was a prohibited disclosure under the Video Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §2710 ("VPPA"), which prohibits a "video tape service provider" from knowingly disclosing "personally identifiable information of a consumer of the provider" to third parties.