Netflix Settlement Becomes A Little Less Bogus

When we first reported Netflix's settlement in the case that exposed their strategy to delay shipments for high-volume users, our smarty-pants commenters pointed out The Netflix Settlement Sucks site, which lays out why their settlement wasn't all that. For example:

Subscribers who were customers before January 15, 2005 will get one month of free upgraded service. That is, if you can have three discs out at a time, you get upgraded to four, for free, for one month. Subscribers who were customers before January 15, 2005, but are no longer customers, will receive a free one-month membership. But wait, there's more! If you accept the upgraded account, you will be put on that upgraded plan at the end of your free month and your bill will increase unless you cancel! It seems to me that the number of subscribers who fail to cancel, forget, or just plain don't understand will likely make Netflix more money as a result of this "settlement." Indeed, it's not a settlement, it's a marketing campaign!

Happily, the objections raised by The Netflix Settlement Sucks, and the settlement was reworked. You should see Netflix's settlement site for all the details, but the main point is that if you choose the one-month upgrade offered in the settlement, you'll automatically drop back down the following month, and that if you're no longer a Netflix user, you get a free month that automatically ends.

To join in the class action suit and recieve this one-month upgrade, sign up here by June 26.