Netflix: Can't Hear? Don't Rent.

[Tiassa]

This is the sort of thing that turns young minds against capitalism:

It's been happening for a while now, but the studios are now removing even more of the features on the rental discs that they provide Netflix and other rental companies. The Blu-ray version of Up has closed captions, but despite the movie information page description that says it has captions, I was able to confirm that captions have been removed from the Netflix rental DVD. Shame on Disney for removing captions and preventing the hearing-impaired from enjoying the movie!

(Hacking Netflix)​

Can't hear? Don't rent.

Paul Constant puts in his two cents:

Last I checked, renting a movie was totally legal. People pirate movies because of shit like this; plus, you don't have to sit through an awkward PSA about not pirating movies if you pirate movies. But Hacking Netflix says that it's more serious than that ....

.... Forcing the hearing-impaired to buy a movie if they want the captions? Now, that's just low.​

Now, we all know that the U.S. Congress is pretty much useless, but this is the sort of thing we need a hearing about: Does the practice of deliberately suspending disabled access to material in order to exclude people from one commercial scheme and force them into another violate the Americans With Disabilities Act?

And the counter-argument? Most likely, it will be predictable: It is bad for the economy to uphold the ADA.

Are there no limits to the needs of our commercial sector?
____________________

Notes:

Hacking Netflix. "Studios Crippling Netflix Rental Discs to Encourage DVD Sales". December 9, 2010. HackingNetflix.com. December 10, 2010. http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2010/...flix-rental-discs-to-encourage-dvd-sales.html

Constant, Paul. "This Is Why People Pirate Movies". Slog. December 10, 2010. Slog.TheStranger.com. December 10, 2010. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/12/10/this-is-why-people-pirate-movies

 

[adoucette]

Disney’s current response in full, including contact info.

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the absence of closed captions from your Up rental DVD. The captions were inadvertently left off of the rental DVD. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. We are working diligently to rectify this situation by shipping the corrected product to our accounts and creating a consumer program to address this matter. Since not all retailers will be able to participate in this program we will contact you once we have the specifics confirmed.

In the meantime, please save the receipt or shipping confirmation and mail it to us at WDSHE Consumer Relations, Attn: “UP Rental” , PO Box 3100, Neenah, WI 54957, with your contact information (full name, home mailing address, phone number, email address) and we will contact you.

Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments. You may contact us via email at DisneyInfo@DisneyHelp.com or via phone at 1-800-723-4763 Mondays 9:30-7:30 CST and Tuesday through Friday 9:30-6:30 CST.