"Taking my $18 per month/3 movies at a time Netflix subscription and converting into a lifetime's worth of content? The instant the red envelope would arrive, rip it and return it?"
What's to stop you from doing that also with your computer, dvd decrypter and a dvd burner? Or your own local storage array /NAS? Nothing, at my peak of blockbuster.com rentals i was getting 12 dvds a month. >:)