Class action against Blockbuster moves ahead

From MediaPost:

“U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Lynn in Dallas ruled that the case could proceed in court even though Blockbuster’s contract with users calls for any disputes to be heard by an arbitrator rather than in court, and also says that users waive their right to file a class action lawsuit.

Lynn determined that Blockbuster’s contract with users was “illusory” because the agreement said that movie rental store could change the terms and conditions at any time…

In the year-old lawsuit, Dallas County resident Cathryn Elaine Harris alleged that Blockbuster violated the federal Videotape Privacy Protection Act by sharing information about her movie rentals and sales with Facebook without first obtaining her written consent.

Harris is asking for at least $2,500 for each violation of the statute, a law passed in 1988 after a newspaper obtained the video rental records of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

When Facebook launched Beacon in November of 2007, the program operated by default. Unless members opted out, information about which Blockbuster movies they rented was sent to other Facebook users. “

Blockbuster gift card fine print too small

According to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey state court, the fine print on the Blockbuster gift cards is less than 10-point font violating the New Jersey gift card statute.

Complaint courtesy Courthousenews

Blockbuster Belly-up?

According to this posting in footnoted.org, Blockbuster’s most recent 10-Q suggests that the credit crunch has hit them hard.   I’ve never been found of them.  I dislike the way they focus on really popular movies and discriminate against NC-17 films.  And the stores!  Oy vay.

Link to blog posting