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Back in April, we told you about Cathryn Elaine Harris, who claimed that Elm Street-based Blockbuster violated her rights to privacy by allowing Facebook to
post her video rentals online. Harris sued Blockbuster in February, but the question was: Would U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Lynn let Harris take Blockbuster to trial? To which Lynn responded with a resounding “Sure, go right ahead.” Alas, that case is entangled in some legal limbo in the Fifth Circuit; so … holding breath.
But Harris and two other Dallas residents aren’t waiting around: On Friday in Dallas federal court, Harris, Marrio Herrera and Maryam Hosseiny filed a class action complaint against Facebook, claiming that it was engaged in a “civil conspiracy” with Blockbuster to allow interlopers access to a list of their latest video rentals. Because, see, these folks thought they’d rented their movies in private. But Blockbuster and Facebook — using something called Beacon, which allowed for the third-party sharing of private info unless you opted out, except nobody knew they could opt out — had other intentions. The entire complaint is after the jump. I don’t think they’d mind me sharing it.