A federal court has ruled this week that Netflix has been receiving an unfair advantage from the US Postal Service (USPS) thanks to special handling of its DVD business. The court also ordered regulators to offer a good explanation as to why, or remedy the discrimination immediately. GameFly, the video game rental company, is the big winner in the case, as they originally claimed that ...
Read full articleOriginally posted by xboxdvl2:Gamefly envelopes are heavier.
its the discs are paid and sent through standard mail,same fees then they should be handled the same.
Originally posted by Bozobub:Well some things should be fully privatized with government over site like mitrlarty budget and prison building, your on your own to pay for that shit :P /lulz
I don't think it really matters. Providing certain types of preferential treatment to very large clients is obvious good business. If we're going to expect the USPS to operate like a private corporation, that's supposedly supposed to ultimately make a profit (which is asinine, in my opinion; it's like charging a direct fee per police call), then legally requiring them to NOT act like a private corporation at the same time is freaking schizophrenic.
I think we should operate the USPS just like any other obviously beneficial social program. It would cost us all far less for the same service, as a country and as individuals, if we went back to the pre-'80s USPS-as-gov't.-bureau model.
This is all quite similar to the fiasco when the GPO (Government Printing Office) was essentially farmed out to the private sector. Instantly, as a nation, we were not only paying the ORIGINAL costs (wages for the workers + materials), we were paying for someone's profit (generally 12-18%), as well! Additionally, since each smaller private printer can't buy materials in the same volume the GPO could, the materials themselves also cost more, which drove the cost even higher.
Every time some silly GOP ninny tries to blather on about privatizing social security or some other government function, just remember how oh-so-well (yeah, right) it worked for the USPS (semi-privatized) and the GPO, then ignore anything else they have to say.
Originally posted by Notcow:
In the same way Google cannot give preferential treatment to certain companies via it's search algorithms, USPS (especially since it's operating under the discretion of the federal government) should not be allowed to give preferential treatment to "it's best customer". It's anti-competitive.
The government is taking part in empowering a system of anti-competitiveness by giving Netflix this treatment while denying the same treatment to its competitors. Shame shame.
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:Maybe I'd be able to sympathize with that point if any other company was being offered a similar discount. I don't believe that Netflix doubles Amazon's volume of deliveries, however Amazon isn't offered any kind of special treatment. I'm sure Gamefly is giving USPS a very good amount of service, and they aren't offered any form of this "bulk discount".
Originally posted by Notcow:
In the same way Google cannot give preferential treatment to certain companies via it's search algorithms, USPS (especially since it's operating under the discretion of the federal government) should not be allowed to give preferential treatment to "it's best customer". It's anti-competitive.
The government is taking part in empowering a system of anti-competitiveness by giving Netflix this treatment while denying the same treatment to its competitors. Shame shame.
Not really, its called volume discount. The more you send the more discount you get. If it goes beyond that get out the napalm and fry im.
Originally posted by Bozobub:True but USPS will facilitate different practices for different customers which might make it easier for them to process. When I younger and worked for a small company, we got a discount if we submitted our outgoing mail in sorted order by zip code. The real question seems does giving Netf1ix a preference like this make it easier and cheaper for the USPS? That issue doesn't seem like something we outside the USPS can answer.
It's not a discount that's at issue, it's specific services the USPS has been providing Netflix.
Originally posted by tastee:Heheheh, if that is the case, then it sure seems like a small nat in business trouble savaging for a law suit to get $$$ from netf1ix. Can anyone one say shakedown? I knew you could :)
The Netflix discs are manually seperated because the machines for the regular mail sometimes breaks them. We seperate them and send them to Netflix. At the same time we also seperate discs for Blockbuster AND GameFly. They all are when seen pulled out of the normal mailflow and sent on their way. We really try to prevent damage of anything in the mail.
Originally posted by tastee:Heheheh, if that is the case, then it sure seems like a small nat in business trouble scavenging for a law suit to get $$$ from netf1ix. Can anyone one say shakedown? I knew you could :)
The Netflix discs are manually seperated because the machines for the regular mail sometimes breaks them. We seperate them and send them to Netflix. At the same time we also seperate discs for Blockbuster AND GameFly. They all are when seen pulled out of the normal mailflow and sent on their way. We really try to prevent damage of anything in the mail.
Originally posted by Notcow:Netflix is probably at least doubling Amazon's number of shipments...if you mean volume in the cubic feet sense, probably not. Amazon gets special prices for their bulk shipping...they still charge the customer list price, but they get their discount. The thing is tho...they ship all kinds of different boxes with different weights and dimensions. Some need signatures at delivery, some contain hazardous materials, and many have lettering on the boxes that has nothing to do with the shipping. On top of that, USPS is not an exclusive partner with Amazon...Amazon would ship by "hobo catching a train" if they thought it was possible. Still, Amazon gets a volume discount and if they could come up with special machines to save work for the USPS and thus get a discount, they would be installed in every USPS distribution center in the country.
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:Maybe I'd be able to sympathize with that point if any other company was being offered a similar discount. I don't believe that Netflix doubles Amazon's volume of deliveries, however Amazon isn't offered any kind of special treatment. I'm sure Gamefly is giving USPS a very good amount of service, and they aren't offered any form of this "bulk discount".
Originally posted by Notcow:
In the same way Google cannot give preferential treatment to certain companies via it's search algorithms, USPS (especially since it's operating under the discretion of the federal government) should not be allowed to give preferential treatment to "it's best customer". It's anti-competitive.
The government is taking part in empowering a system of anti-competitiveness by giving Netflix this treatment while denying the same treatment to its competitors. Shame shame.
Not really, its called volume discount. The more you send the more discount you get. If it goes beyond that get out the napalm and fry im.
The government is enabling this company to preform better than its competitors, and at a lower cost even! That is a "bulk discount" yes, you're right, but it's a bulk discount that no other company is being allowed to qualify for.
Originally posted by Justoneguy:Or old people and their comps. hahahaha
I guess we better start suing Vegas for giving special treatment to the whales. Why the F*ck didn't I get the rain man suite!?
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