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August 30, 2005
Peerflix
Posted by Alan Wexelblat
Peerflix is just about what it sounds like - a peer (trading) version of NetFlix. As you'd expect from the name, Peerflix urges you to "trade DVDs, don't rent them."
The service, presently in beta, charges USD.99 per trade. You sign up, they send you "trading envelopes." You list your DVDs and when people select them, you get "trading credits" - which you can also buy - based on the cost of and demand for the item you list. You use these credits to select things other people are offering to trade. They claim both to have people trading directly and also be guarding/guaranteeing against fraud. Like most of these plans, the success of this will depend on most people being good-willed and abiding by the rules of the game.
Users (members?) agree to "not illegally copy DVDs" (anyone care to hazard a guess as to what a legal DVD copy is in the US today?) and also "agree that you have valid title and ownership rights" in the DVDs you list. Anyone care to hazard another guess as to whether my ownership of a DVD allows me to trade it in this manner?
Comments (3)
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1. Dave on August 30, 2005 2:09 PM writes...
Why stop with trading just DVDs?
You may also find BarterBee.com to be a good alternative to the existing services you discuss. Not only can you trade-in DVD's but you can also trade-in your unwanted CDs and Video Games for the ones you really want.
All transactions are $1.00. Get ANY CD, DVD or Video Game for points and a $1 per-item transaction fee. Maximum $5 in transaction fees per month - get anything you want with no transaction fee after that.
http://www.BarterBee.com
Permalink to Comment2. Dr. wex on August 30, 2005 3:42 PM writes...
That's interesting. Barterbee appears to be all that and more. I wonder how well the "set your own points cost" thing works.
Permalink to Comment3. David on August 30, 2005 3:57 PM writes...
You can easily manage ownership rights with DVDs. There is, after all, something physical to "attach" the ownership to. In this sense, ownership belongs to whoever has/holds the disc.
Compare that with digital music. You can easily send an mp3 file to a friend, and there will be two copies of a song. If this keeps happening, it will be hard to determine who owns the song.
DRM will eventually solve this - by preventing the transfer of files. Or maybe by removing the file from the sender's computer when he forwards it to another.
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