Random fact of the day: Nixon crony Robert Bork is the reason that Netflix can’t automatically post what you watch on Facebook. What, you thought Facebook saw how annoying Spotify is with that and decided to not do it out of taste?
HA! No, what happened was somebody published Robert Bork’s video rental history during his controversial and ultimately failed nomination to the Supreme Court, and, as the nation had no other pressing business in 1988, Congress went ahead and made that illegal.
Netflix has finally made it unillegal… but not for free.
Netflix’s lobbying group, Flixpac, has, among other things, been spending a lot of that sweet video money to make your Wall that much more annoying:
The change to the VPPA has been Netflix’s “top lobbying priority in Washington,” said The Hill in July. Netflix has spent more than $1,000,000 lobbying in 2011 and 2012.
All this actually paid off December 20th, when the VPPA was officially repealed by Congress. Obama still has to sign it into law, but once that happens, we will officially be able to automate telling people what crappy sitcoms we’re watching.
You know, because there is absolutely nothing else that Washington could have focused on over the last few weeks.