Webware

For the past two years, my roommate and I have split a Netflix user account, mostly so that I don't have to deal with his trashy action-movie picks mucking up my queue of navel-gazing Wes Anderson knockoffs, and so that we can ensure a clean split in our four-at-a-time subscription. He'd totally hog it otherwise.

But starting on September 1, we're going to have to suck it up. The rental-by-mail service announced on its blog on Thursday that it would be doing away with separate user profiles on the same account.

The reason, the post explained, is that it's a little-used feature that some people found complicated: only a percent of Netflix members use it. "We will do our best to find better ways for families to share accounts than the existing profiles feature," it read, "and will continue to invest in improving the Web site experience in many different ways."

So maybe a new kind of split-household account is on the way, but for now, my roommate and I are going to have to either share a password (which could raise security concerns for some people) or pay for two separate accounts (which will cost more for both of us). Customized recommendations will be directed to both of us rather than our individual accounts, which means--eek!--that I'm going to see Meet the Spartans recommended to me instead of Flight of the Conchords.

Lousy move, Netflix.

A thread on feedback forum Get Satisfaction revealed that other people aren't too happy either. Some raised concerns that they could no longer operate separate queues with parental controls for their children, and others expressed plights similar to mine--they share accounts with roommates or housemates who have vastly different cinematic tastes.

"Way to go, Netflix, I'll just be canceling the service at this point," one user wrote. "I specifically upgraded to the four-at-a-time service to split out the queues for my wife and myself. I'm not going to pay for another separate account."

And if you've been using separate Netflix profiles as a way to cloak your porn habit (or chick-flick habit) from your spouse, get ready. You'll have some explaining to do come September.

Update at 6:15 p.m. PDT to add areas that may likely see delays in delivery.

Update at 7:55 p.m. to reflect that the site has since come back online.

Netflix customers expecting a little red package soon may be disappointed.

The largest online video-rental service has suffered a technical glitch that has knocked out its Web site as well as its logistics and delivery systems, according to a Steve Swasey, a company spokesman.

The malfunction, the source of which the company won't reveal, began at about 7 a.m. PDT. The site came back online about 12 hours later, but the malfunction caused Netflix to miss the deadline to mail a large number of shipments scheduled to go out on Monday--affecting customers across the United States, according to Swasey. "We did send some shipments, but most of them will go out on Tuesday."

Swasey declined to specify what percentage of the company's more than 7.5 million customers would be affected.

The blackout was the second longest in company history. In July, Netflix suffered an outage that lasted longer than 18 hours. On that day, the company's shares fell 7 percent as the market punished Netflix for a drop in customers.

This time, the glitch came as Netflix's customer numbers are on the rise and its stock is soaring. Stock analysts upgraded Netflix on Monday, and the company closed trading at $38.18, up 5 percent. Over the past six months, the company's shares have doubled in value.

One of the differences between the two outages is that Netflix's logistics and shipping systems were not affected in July. With the more recent glitch, Netflix continued to ship DVDs but that changed sometime Monday afternoon.

(Credit: Screenshot of Netflix HTML source featuring deleted sentence)

In a message posted to its site, Netflix told customers not to worry because the company's "distribution centers are still sending and receiving DVDs." A check of the site's HTML source showed that the company rendered that sentence invisible sometime later.

"Our engineers have been feverishly working on repairing the problem all morning," Swasey said. "It was an unanticipated, unplanned outage, and we apologize to our customers."

Site outages are typically not a big deal, and any company can suffer one. But a blackout that lasts for more than an hour is rare, and one spanning several hours is rarer still.

Netflix, which has 7 million subscribers, said that customers needn't worry about their stored movie picks. None of their information will be lost.

The long-anticipated set-top box from Netflix is headed toward your living room this summer, according to several major news providers including the Associated Press, The New York Times, and Reuters. The good news is that unlike the optical supremacy battle going on between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, the capability to tap into Netflix's movies-on-demand service could become a standard option on many upcoming consumer-level DVD players and set-top boxes as an added feature--not the sole purpose. Boxes equipped with the Netflix service (including the purported next revision of LG's flagship BH series of dual HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players) will be able to tap into Netflix's on-demand service that streams movies without having to wait for the discs to arrive in the mail.

There's no word on price, exact release date, or the inclusion of an a la carte rental system similar to Vudu or the one that's rumored to be coming to iTunes and Apple TV later this month, but based on Netflix's existing model, it looks like the company is trying to help take a step out of getting on-demand movies on the TV from the PC for people who don't want to shell out for a media extender, or other streaming device.

In addition to LG, Netflix is reportedly making deals with other hardware manufacturers to get the streaming service bundled in upcoming players and game consoles, although with Microsoft already having its own integrated movie rental marketplace, the chances of adding a competing product on the XBOX 360 are slim.

The folks over at HackingNetflix have a purported screenshot of the main menu from LG, although no screens of the video selection or settings menus. Expect more details next week at CES.

In the face of the juggernaut that is Netflix, lagging movie rental giant Blockbuster has tried many an incentive to convince viewers that it's no dinosaur. Since entering the online DVD rental business in 2004, Blockbuster has instituted "Total Access," a system of online-and-offline rentals geared toward Netflix users who may be disgruntled by the fact that they can't just hop in their cars and pick out movies on the fly.

This week, Blockbuster is taking a sharper jab at Netflix. With the President's Day long weekend underway, the rental company is attempting to capitalize on the fact that when there's a holiday, post offices are closed and Netflix shipping times are inevitably slowed down. So, Blockbuster is extending a "Presidents' Day Pardon" to Netflix members: Turn in the tear-off flap from a Netflix rental (you know, the one with your mailing address on it), take it to a Blockbuster store, and you get a free rental. Apparently, you can get an additional free rental for every address flap you turn in.

The catch: You'll need to sign up for a Blockbuster store membership. It's free, but it's still a membership, and plenty of people think those are just a tad icky. But if it doesn't bother you, you have through Feb. 21st to take advantage of this offer.

Just remember, late fees do apply.