Netflix has the worst UI, until that is fixed they should pay the guy a dollar a day.

discgolfguru: I knew that canceling my account would shake those guys up.

what part of the US do you play disc golf in? i'm in austin the "disc golf capitol"

Walker: Have your asinine decisions cost your company $12 billion in shareholder wealth, only lose $1.5 million of your $3 million stock bonus (salary unchanged). Meanwhile, one of his underlings would be fired for just putting the wrong DVD in an envelope. It's good to be rich (and the boss).

To be fair if he was a CEO on Wall Street doing that would have gotten him a $300 million bonus.

ongbok: To be fair if he was a CEO on Wall Street doing that would have gotten him a $300 million bonus.

Partially, if not entirely, funded by taxpayers.

America is a meritocracy

Thats the ticket

I think this is the first time I've seen a CEO voluntarily take a cut in compensation as the result of poor business. The typical route is to fire workers to hide the lost profits, and then get a bonus for increasing the profit margin...

It's pretty funny, that at a company with a reputation in the Valley as a place where employees are disposable, held to extremely high performance standards, where there are no second chances, and your first mistake is likely your last, their CEO doesn't get fired for making a business-ruining decision.

stiletto_the_wise: It's pretty funny, that at a company with a reputation in the Valley as a place where employees are disposable, held to extremely high performance standards, where there are no second chances, and your first mistake is likely your last, their CEO doesn't get fired for making a business-ruining decision.

are you kidding? you can't fire or tax the job creators!!!

Scumbag CEO: Loses half of business, takes half pay cut.

If this had been HP, he would have been out the door and replaced by an outsider who doesn't understand a thing about the business.

The very definition of a 1%er problem.

The "Qwikster" thing was stupid, but the price hike was inevitable.

Everyone dumps on Netflix for raising their rates, but they are about to get FARKED by the various copyright owners on licensing fees. I mean FARKED. People are estimating that by 2013 they'll be paying 7 or 8 times as much to license streaming content as they have been. That's pretty brutal.

So don't be mad at Netflix. Be mad at greedy movie and TV studios.

The sad fact is, 3 years from now, we won't have unlimited streaming anymore. We'll get 10 movies and/or TV shows a month, and it will cost $29.99. Which nobody will pay, and then Netflix (and all other streaming services) will go out of business. Enjoy the current situation while it lasts.

realmolo: So don't be mad at Netflix. Be mad at greedy movie and TV studios.

How about "be mad at NetFlix for not knowing how to negotiate." Takes two to tango, as they say.

realmolo: The "Qwikster" thing was stupid, but the price hike was inevitable.

Everyone dumps on Netflix for raising their rates, but they are about to get FARKED by the various copyright owners on licensing fees. I mean FARKED. People are estimating that by 2013 they'll be paying 7 or 8 times as much to license streaming content as they have been. That's pretty brutal.

So don't be mad at Netflix. Be mad at greedy movie and TV studios.

The sad fact is, 3 years from now, we won't have unlimited streaming anymore. We'll get 10 movies and/or TV shows a month, and it will cost $29.99. Which nobody will pay, and then Netflix (and all other streaming services) will go out of business. Enjoy the current situation while it lasts.

This.

realmolo: The "Qwikster" thing was stupid, but the price hike was inevitable.

Everyone dumps on Netflix for raising their rates, but they are about to get FARKED by the various copyright owners on licensing fees. I mean FARKED. People are estimating that by 2013 they'll be paying 7 or 8 times as much to license streaming content as they have been. That's pretty brutal.

So don't be mad at Netflix. Be mad at greedy movie and TV studios.

The sad fact is, 3 years from now, we won't have unlimited streaming anymore. We'll get 10 movies and/or TV shows a month, and it will cost $29.99. Which nobody will pay, and then Netflix (and all other streaming services) will go out of business. Enjoy the current situation while it lasts.

A raise in rates was inevitable. That's not the issue.

It was the horrible way it was handled. Condescending emails, Qwikster, etc. Now, Netflix stock is in the toilet and its competitors smell blood in the water. All because Mr. $1.5mil bonus couldn't handle notifying his customers of a rate increase.

MrEricSir: How about "be mad at NetFlix for not knowing how to negotiate." Takes two to tango, as they say.

Oh, I dunno. There's been a rash of disputes in recent years between providers (i.e. cable companies) concerning the fees they pay broadcasters (i.e. FOX) , most notably with sports; when it came time to re-negotiate the contract between FOX and Cablevision in NY, FOX was asking for $150 million, which was an $80 million increase over the previous rate.

FOX eventually emerged victorious and got the full fee; Netflix will certainly be faced with similar situations when their contracts expire.

Mugato: What he said. Hell, I wouldn't even have known about the rate hike if it weren't for all the people complaining about it.

So, his $1.5 mil bonus is for being asleep at the wheel, rather than trying and failing horribly.

I'm not sure which one is worse.

MrEricSir: How about "be mad at NetFlix voters for not knowing how to negotiate influence legislation." Takes two to tango, as they say.

If you use this same exact logic in a political context between voters and Congress, you could just as easily imply that American citizens are half responsible for the attrocious state our country is in right now. Just to show you how nonsensical your statement is.

You fail to acknowledge that some parties have more control in a negotiation than their counterparts.

utahraptor2: If you use this same exact logic in a political context between voters and Congress, you could just as easily imply that American citizens are half responsible for the attrocious state our country is in right now. Just to show you how nonsensical your statement is.

Yes, you could make a meaningless strawman analogy. Not sure what the point would be though, since it's irrelevant.

You fail to acknowledge that some parties have more control in a negotiation than their counterparts.

Not at all -- that's why it's called a negotiation. But the fact is that if content providers want to sell their content, they can't afford to overlook distribution giants like Netflix, Walmart, Amazon, etc.

As someone who made a few grand shorting Netflix (put options) this year, I say, Merry Christmas, Mr. Hastings!

"Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit." Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #162.

/If you aren't a NFLX stockholder, really none of your business.

MrEricSir: utahraptor2: If you use this same exact logic in a political context between voters and Congress, you could just as easily imply that American citizens are half responsible for the attrocious state our country is in right now. Just to show you how nonsensical your statement is.

Yes, you could make a meaningless strawman analogy. Not sure what the point would be though, since it's irrelevant.

You fail to acknowledge that some parties have more control in a negotiation than their counterparts.

Not at all -- that's why it's called a negotiation. But the fact is that if content providers want to sell their content, they can't afford to overlook distribution giants like Netflix, Walmart, Amazon, etc.

But it's not a meaningless strawman analogy. What power does Netflix have to leverage against content providers? None. That's why many distributors' licensed material can't be found on Netflix; they haven't been authorized to stream licensed content from some providers, and there's nothing Netflix can do to force them to. Content providers have larger legal and financial reserves than relatively smaller companies like Netflix, and copyright law is definitely on their side in terms of content ownership and distribution.

Every time they update any of their Apps or website, the UI gets substantially worse. The new Xbox layout is absolutely awful!

utahraptor2: But it's not a meaningless strawman analogy.

Because people getting their entire lives trampled by big corporations is totally analogous to whether you can watch your little streaming video. Right.

What power does Netflix have to leverage against content providers? None. That's why many distributors' licensed material can't be found on Netflix; they haven't been authorized to stream licensed content from some providers, and there's nothing Netflix can do to force them to. Content providers have larger legal and financial reserves than relatively smaller companies like Netflix, and copyright law is definitely on their side in terms of content ownership and distribution.

Netflix has more subscribers than many cable channels could ever hope for. If the content providers don't want to sell their content, they don't have to. Kind of depends on whether they'd like to make money or not.

Speaking of Netflix, anyone on an iPad able to view Netflix on their device? Ever since the latest update I can't login on my iPad 2.

Waste of money...

About to cancel streaming netflix if they dont get their movie selection improved by Jan 15th. Every time I looked for a movie it was available.. for dvd only.

MrEricSir: Because people getting their entire lives trampled by big corporations is totally analogous to whether you can watch your little streaming video. Right.

Let me break this down Barney-style for you.

Netflix's control over content license-owners is analogous to citizens' control over Federal government decisions. For the most part, there isn't any.

utahraptor2: Netflix's control over content license-owners is analogous to citizens' control over Federal government decisions. For the most part, there isn't any.

Netflix isn't a government, and you can't vote for a new CEO unless you're a stockholder. Netflix is a video rental service, the federal government is not.

You're grasping at straws here, and it's not even entirely clear why you keep insisting in this absurd analogy.

We should do either what Japan or Sweden does with pay. Either keep the high and low end salaries close (Japan) or tax the shiat out high incomes (Sweden). Also profit should be shared with the people who DID THE WORK. Not some stock holder.

MrEricSir: Netflix isn't a government, and you can't vote for a new CEO unless you're a stockholder. Netflix is a video rental service, the federal government is not.

You're grasping at straws here, and it's not even entirely clear why you keep insisting in this absurd analogy.

I don't think you understand what an analogy is.

a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump. (dictionary.com)

In this case, the power struggle of two companies of differing levels of influence is being compared to the power struggle between US citizens and their overseers.

Netflix CEO announces he will take a pay cut next year. Instead of $3$3.5 million, he'll only get $1.5$2 million

Base salary of $500K remains unchanged

apeiron242: We should do either what Japan or Sweden does with pay. Either keep the high and low end salaries close (Japan) or tax the shiat out high incomes (Sweden). Also profit should be shared with the people who DID THE WORK. Not some stock holder.

I don't particularly agree with this. If I invest money into a company, I'm giving them money to do things they wouldn't otherwise be able to do (such as expand their business or explore other markets), which will give them an overall return in profits. I should see a profit.

I also think companies that DO have stocks should give their employees stock in the company. Wasn't that fairly common in the past?

utahraptor2: I don't think you understand what an analogy is.

I do -- the problem is it's a shiatty analogy as it serves to purpose.

twoody: Speaking of Netflix, anyone on an iPad able to view Netflix on their device? Ever since the latest update I can't login on my iPad 2.

Waste of money...

Have you checked for updates? I had that problem on my iPad the day after I updated my app (which gave me the new UI, etc.) but the day after that they released another update with bug fixes. After I updated the app a second time, I have been able to log in without any problems.

MrEricSir: serves to purpose.

Should be "serves no purpose."

/cna't tyep todya

Shareholders are the only one who should care about CEO salaries. The problem right now is that it is damn difficult for them to demand CEO paycuts due to incestuous relations in the board room where CEOs sit on the boards of each other companies and decide what CEOs should be paid.

This is a legitimate case of market failure that regulators should correct. However, the Fark Internet Brigade doesn't want the money saved to go to shareholders but welfare moms via cushy unionized admin jobs they'll work in. Shareholders know that as badly as CEOs screw them, the Democrats fapping to misguided, delusional, and just plane fictional dreams of Sweden will be 10x worse.

This is a case where the left would earn a lot of friends on the right by doing what's right and not demanding free hand outs.

beta_plus: However, the Fark Internet Brigade doesn't want the money saved to go to shareholders but welfare moms via cushy unionized admin jobs they'll work in. Shareholders know that as badly as CEOs screw them, the Democrats fapping to misguided, delusional, and just plane fictional dreams of Sweden will be 10x worse.

Whereas your delusional dreams of turning the USA into China are 100000x worse.