Hacking NetFlix

Theaters Getting Creative to Get You Back

With competition coming from incredible home theater setups, Netflix, Blockbuster, Video-on-Demand and summer weather (finally!), movie theaters are coming up with creative ways to get us back. From a recent CNN article, AMC theaters' 'Cinderella' guarantee:

In a rare marketing ploy, the No. 2 U.S. movie theater chain, AMC Entertainment, is offering a money-back guarantee for boxing picture "Cinderella Man," hoping to boost interest in the struggling film amid a record box-office slump.

I finally saw Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in Seattle last weekend (in digital, of course). With two very small kids, Netflix and Blockbuster subscriptions (and HackingNetflix to work on), it's hard to get out for a few hours to catch a movie.

When's the last time you went out to see a movie, and what did you watch?

Thanks to Evan for sending this in.

Lawyers Defeat DVD Decrypter

The author of DVD backup and copy program DVD Decrypter has been forced to cease development and distribution of the infamous program.

Ok so it has taken a while (almost 2 years), but eventually "a certain company" has decided they don"t like what I"m doing (circumventing their protection) and have come at me like a pack of wolves. I"ve no choice but to cease everything to do with DVD Decrypter.I realise this is going to be one of those "that sucks - fight them!" kinda things, but at the end of the day, it"s my life and I"m not about to throw it all away (before it has even really started) attempting to fight a battle I can"t possibly win.

If 321 Studios can"t do it with millions, what chance do I have with £50?! As I"m sure most of you have already noticed, the site has been down for a few days. That surprised me as much as the next person (slight breakdown in communication), or I would have issued this statement on it directly.

While I disagree with pirating software or copying DVD's, what ever happened to fair use? I can't believe that stupid laws like the DMCA get passed -- who's protecting our rights?

Now I hear that BitTorrent may be the next target of lawyers. We finally get a way to distribute large files and because it can be used to share movies, it'll probably get shut down like Grokster.

What ever happened to making content (movies, music, books, etc) so cheap that everyone will buy it and it won't be worth the time or energy to copy it? Why does a CD still cost $16? Apple gets it and is making a killing because they understand fair use.

Where's Lawrence Lessig and the EFF when we need them? Arrggghhhhhh!!!!

Thanks to Chris for sending this in.

How is Blockbuster Online Doing?

Lamarr is thinking of taking the Blockbuster Online deal and quitting Netflix:

Do you know how Blockbuster's online rental program is doing in Chicago? Do they have a facility in Chicago now? I'm tempted to take advantage of their "2 month free & steal ya from Netflix" promotion. I've realized that I don't really watch more than 12 movies/month now that I've gotten busy, so the 1 day turnaround isn't as important. Having 2 in-store game rentals IS a cool option, and getting 3 movies a week is sufficient.

I'm still getting better turnaround from Netflix, but Blockbuster has come a long way since last fall.

If you're a Blockbuster Online customer, how would you rate the service? How does it compare to Netflix? Do we have any Blockbuster Online customers in the Chicago area?

Comcast & Starz Announce Largest Video-on-Demand Deal

Comcast and Starz Entertainment Group have announced a partnership that enables Comcast customers to have access to up to 1,500 movies per year from the Starz library.

The agreement also covers the launch of two new SEG premium movie channels on Comcast systems and provides for the extension of the affiliation agreement between the two companies into the next decade.

Comcast plans to offer digital cable customers who subscribe to Starz 325 top movie titles per month, and offer Encore customers 250 of these movie titles per month - all at no additional charge. Digital cable customers who would have paid $3-4 per movie to receive top movies now will each be able to receive up to $1,000 per month worth of value at no additional charge from Comcast.

Comcast will also make available for no additional charge 100 of the 250 Encore movies as part of a new digital cable package that will be the gateway to video-on-demand for those customers who have previously experienced traditional television content.

The deal is being positioned as a way to transition Comcast customers to Video-on-Demand. I'm a Comcast customer, and while it sounds interesting, the only problem is that they are promising only 1,500 movies per year, while Netflix has a growing collection of more than 45,000.

What do you think of this deal?

Thanks to Aron for sending this in.

Blockbuster Promotion Benefits Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Blockbuster will donate $1 for every new or renewed Blockbuster Rewards membership sold between now and August 8th, 2005. Blockbuster Reward memberships cost $9.95 and enable you to earn free rentals.

Blockbuster has raised more than $7 million for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1999.

Netflix Now Has 45,000 Movies

Francisca noticed that Netflix now has 45,000 movies available for rental (it's on the Netflix home page and "About Us" page).

Where are they finding all of these movies? Will they be taking home movies next?

Amazon Enters German DVD-by-Mail Market

InternetRetailer.com is reporting that Amazon has entered the German DVD-by-Mail market:

Amazon today launched a DVD rental service in Germany. It is Amazon’s second DVD rental offering, following the launch of rentals in the U.K. late last year.

Amazon is offering German movie viewers rentals as low as €9.99 a month for three rentals with only one movie out at a time to €18.99 a month for six rentals and three out at a time. Customers who sign up during the initial promotional period will receive 5% off the purchase of DVDs.

Netflix has recently said that they do not expect Amazon to enter the U.S. DVD rental market, but Amazon seems to be using Europe to learn the business.

via Netflix Fan blog

Blockbuster Price Increase Coming?

Scim let me know about an interesting Street.com story, More Tailwinds for Netflix, about a possible Blockbuster price increase.

I can't see how Blockbuster can keep spending so much on advertising while Netflix enjoys a higher subscription price and a lower cost to acquire a new customer. Unless Blockbuster starts catching up to Netflix I don't think Netflix will lower their price or increase ad spending.

I wonder if Blockbuster will continue to grow at the current rate if they raise the subscription price.

If you're already a Blockbuster subscriber don't worry -- they've guaranteed the $14.99 price for currrent subscribers until 2006.

New Netflix Features

I got back from Seattle today and was surprised to find that Netflix added some new features to the Web site. When you click on the friends tab you'll see a similar quiz, based on one of your friends:

They've also changed how recommendations are done. They've introduced a 3-step process when you click on the recommendations tab:

In step 2 you rate the genres of movies, based on your preference:

Netflix takes this information and generates new recommendations:

What do you think of the new ratings? Any difference? Better or worse than before?

Gray Retail DVD's

I'm a big Kevin Smith fan, and when I bought a copy of Clerks this weekend, I was surprised to find two gray DVD's in the package. I paid $14.99 for the collection, so I'm wondering if we'll see more gray DVD's from the studios in order to bring the cost of movies down to a reasonable level.