Magistrate Judge Terminates VPPA Claims vs. Nexstar After Voluntary Dismissal

U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long for Central Illinois in Peoria entered a text order Tuesday (docket 1:23-cv-01050) accepting plaintiff Zachary Rohlfs’ May 1 unopposed notice of voluntary dismissal of his Video Privacy Protection Act claims against Nexstar Media. His order terminated the case. “All pending motions are denied as moot and all scheduled deadlines and court settings are vacated,” said the order. Rohlfs alleged in February that Nexstar, owner of WGNTV.com, violated the VPPA by obtaining or requesting specific video materials or services “from a video tape provider” without obtaining express consent in a stand-alone consent form (see 2302100028). He alleged Nexstar didn't disclose that it would share his personal viewing information with third parties such as Facebook when he opened his account, or when he watched WGNTV.com.