Why Netflix Should Go Porn?

from the interesting... dept

Over at CNN/Money, Eric Hellweg says that the best way for Netflix to avoid being eaten by WalMart and Blockbuster is to start offering porn DVDs, since the other two companies won't ever do so. Of course, the backlash from investors might not be so good. He says, in response to that complaint, that Yahoo gets away with selling porn. Apparently, he missed the huge mess Yahoo got into a few years back when some random reporter noticed that people were using Yahoo marketplaces to sell porn DVDs. This wasn't even a case of Yahoo selling porn, but people who used their stores to. The backlash was fierce (even though they'd been letting people sell porn for about two years before anyone noticed) and Yahoo was forced to stop all porn DVD sales.
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  • identicon
    mhh5, 14 Aug 2003 @ 4:51pm

    hmmmm

    Netflix would probably have to change its policy for "lost" DVDs. Right now, I think they're kind of friendly about not charging for "lost in the mail" DVDs.... With porn, I bet their "lost" DVD percentage skyrockets.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Joe, 18 Aug 2003 @ 11:23am

      Re: hmmmm

      There is already a company on the web that really knows porn and service. They have a better site than Netflix; they are www.sugardvd.com.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2004 @ 10:19am

      Re: hmmmm

      >Netflix would probably have to change its policy for "lost" DVDs. Right now, I think they're kind of friendly about not charging for "lost in the mail" DVDs.... With porn, I bet their "lost" DVD percentage skyrockets< br>Based on what facts could you assert this?
      If one makes blanken assertions like this, I'd say you have more stolen CHILDREN movies than porn. If I want a porn bad enough, I'll buy it or make a SVCD/DVD-R out of it. Accusing porn viewers of being likely thieves is very insulting of you.
      And Netflix sucks.. you get BETTER selection at GreenCINE. Netflix won't carry great classic anime like Star Blazers, non R1 DVD's & imports, and porn. GreenCINE carries whatever you ask, and they hire human beings who provide personal replies to Support.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2003 @ 5:15pm

    No Subject Given

    I don't think Netflix will be eaten up by Walmart of BlockBuster - they're either too much into censorship or pan&scan, plus Netflix has some rare older titles.

    Porn sounds good - they'd have to charge more (porn can retail up to $60 a DVD) and have an adults-only section, shouldn't be too difficult as you need a credit card anyway....

    Don't see why porn would get "lost" more though?

    As long as it's not illegal porn, why would they have problems like Yahoo?

    This is the question I have about KazaA - how can you use porn as an excuse to shut it down when porn isn't illegal?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Free Thinker, 14 Aug 2003 @ 6:34pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      Cut to the chase: What is being said is that less than honest customers ( read: liars ) will report DVD's as " never received " in the mail when in fact they have received them and are too busy wacking it to Jenna Jamison to consider that not returning the DVD will just drive up the cost of the service.
      I really do hope to see Net-Flix consider the revenue from Porn DVD's ...
      No, I doubt I would rent them, but it means they can compete with a better chance of succeeding than being gobbled up by Wal-Mart ... ( oops, did someone say Wal-Mart wasn't good for the community ? ... )
      Capitalism ... I love you :-)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2003 @ 7:17pm

        Re: No Subject Given

        > No, I doubt I would rent them It's normal. It's natural. It's nothing to be ashamed of. . . "Hey Sarg, do you do it?" Well, I don't do it, but still. . .

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          sbdwestpac, 15 Aug 2003 @ 6:36am

          common misconception

          Pornography is illegal. Adult entertainment is not. The term pornography is meant to encompass material that violates obscenity laws or offends the public morality. However the term has come to be applied to all sexually explicit material. Websites that contain sexual material refer to it as adult entertainment or adult content because they know the legal definition of porn. Anything involving barnyard animals or minors is automatically porn, but anything involving consenting adults is adult entertainment. The biggest reason for this mixing of terms is the narrow-minded zealots who want to tar anything having to do with sex with the taint of illegality that the term pornography invokes. Like John Ashcroft who put a sheet around a nude statue at the Justice Department to show the world what a boob he is.

          On topic: I think Netflix would probably do best to offer adult titles because many people who would like to rent them don't much fancy going to the local XXX store which are often frequented by the cops and are always located in the worst part of town due to zoning laws. Being able to rent adult titles from Netflix would give them a decisive leg up on the competition.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      mhh5, 14 Aug 2003 @ 6:48pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      "Don't see why porn would get "lost" more though?"

      I guess you have no qualms about buying porn DVDs. I would assume, tho, that others might, and instead of buying them (in a store or online w/ S&H), report them as "lost"....


      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2003 @ 6:46am

    No Subject Given

    Think they'd offer themselves up to some fairly hefty law suits if they did. Unfortunately, there's not much to stop a kid from getting his hands on the material and there's usually some self-rightous idiot out there who will take them to court over it (someone in Tenn comes to mind).

    I like the idea of offering porn, as in the video rental section in did quite a brisk business. Just not sure how they can do it without losing more money in lawsuits than they gain in profits.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2003 @ 8:50am

    No Subject Given

    Why does everyone here seem to think that because you rent porn, you're more likely to steal it than ordinary movies.

    Anyway, any self-respecting Netflix customer has a DVD-RW anyway! ;o)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mark, 15 Aug 2003 @ 9:11am

    Netflix and porn

    I doubt Netflix will go that direction, because a couple years ago they went in the opposite direction. I was one of the Netflix early adopters, and I remember they had a "mature" section that was filled with soft-core porn: Japanese imports, "erotic thrillers," and the like. Then one day it disappeared, and it's never been seen again. My guess is that Netflix came under pressure from some group and quietly axed those materials. Rolling out a porn selection would represent a 180-degree change of direction, and unless they were faced by bankruptcy I don't see that happening.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2004 @ 10:24am

      Re: Netflix and porn

      >hen one day it disappeared, and it's never been seen again. My guess is that Netflix came under pressure from some group and quietly axed those materials.< br>
      I revcall some US congressman holding up a gay softcore title from Netflix that had some title (I forget) like "Boys and Men". The esteemed gentleman called Netflix "pedophile peddles" or something like that.

      It's just posturing, but until Netflix feels pressure from a real competitor they'll just toe the line and avoid upsetting people (who are probably not even customers...)

      fyi - Netflix + porn = www.greencine.com

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Marc, 18 Jan 2004 @ 3:32pm

      Re: Netflix and porn

      Agreed.

      Further information about Netflix's history with soft porn: About two years ago, Netflix stopped making these titles rentable, but for about a year after that, they continued to ship the titles to people who had them in their queues. I spaced them out so that I could make it last. They have since sent me a note saying all of those titles had mysteriously become both "damaged" and "out of print" at the same time. About a week later they did their IPO.

      Netflix evidently thought offering questionable titles like even the mild, "Playboy's Art of Massage" (damn; should've just held onto that) would hurt them on the stock market.

      I do wish they would do something like eBay has done, though, and just make a mature section for people who have elected to have that made available to them. Oh well.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2003 @ 1:32pm

    No Subject Given

    www.adultdvdempire.com (part of Dvd Empire) already has a good Porn rental system going (just started couple weeks ago), and pricing starts at just $15 (for 2 rentals) and goes up to $35/month for 8 titles (something like that). I think $15 is cheaper than NetFlix' service.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      pornlover, 14 Jan 2004 @ 7:50pm

      other porn rental services

      nlfx is not going to go the porn route unfortunately. but here r some who already r:

      SugarDVD.com
      privateathome.com

      looks to me like sugar is the way to go for now. im not a member of either, yet. too addicted to kazaa.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jason, 22 Jul 2008 @ 11:12am

    I been a member of http://www.wantedlist.com/ for the longest time and never had a problem. They have two shipping centers so I get my DVDs next day. They even emailed me about a new iphone service http://m.wantedlist.com/ which is pretty cool.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Steph, 19 Feb 2009 @ 12:31am

    Free Trial for Adult Blu-Ray and DVD

    I have enjoyed using www.Sugaradultdvd.com for over 2 years now. Very good service and they offer much more than just DVDs and BluRay discs

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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