Important Circuit Court Ruling Limits Scope Of VPPA Liability

The Eleventh Circuit issued a notable ruling this week limiting a mobile app's liability under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), 18 U.S.C. § 2710, a law enacted in 1988 to preserve "consumer" personal privacy with respect to the rental or purchase of movies on VHS videotape, and which has been regularly applied to streaming video sites and apps. However, in a significant decision which potentially limits the applicability of the VPPA, the Eleventh Circuit held in Ellis v. The Cartoon Network, Inc., 2015 WL 5904760 (11th Cir. Oct. 9, 2015), that a person who downloads and uses a free mobile app to view freely available content, without more, is not a "subscriber" (and therefore not a "consumer") under the VPPA.