Good news for some, I suppose, and would alleviate the Netflix system's built-in USPS errors (lost shipments, broken discs, long delays).
Netflix is gearing up for the increased competition by expanding a year-old feature that streams movies over the Internet instead of making customers wait for their online rental requests to be delivered through the mail.
Until now, Netflix restricted how long its more than 7 million subscribers could use the streaming service each month, based on how much they pay to rent DVDs.
For instance, under a popular plan that charges $16.99 per month to rent up to three DVDs at a time, Netflix customers could watch as many as 17 hours of entertainment each month on the streaming service, dubbed "Watch Instantly."
With Monday's change, virtually all Netflix subscribers will be able to stream as many movies and TV shows as they want from a library containing more than 6,000 titles. There will be no additional charge for the unlimited access.[From Wired News - AP News]
Only the small portion of Netflix customers who pay $4.99 to rent up to two DVDs per month won't be provided unlimited access to the streaming service.
Well, and anyone who happens to own a Macintosh computer. We are not allowed to watch any amount of streaming video because the Netflix engineers cannot make a copy-protection software robust enough to satisfy the Hollywood studio honchos (and their corporate lawyer lackeys). Not sure I'd want to use the streaming option anyway (my office is not the most relaxing room in the house), but I'd like to try it once.
