Redbox
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2002 |
| Product Type | Video rental and streaming services |
| In Production | No (ceased trading) |
| Official Website | https://www.redbox.com/ |
Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, was a company founded in 2002 by Gregg Kaplan which primarily focused on kiosks, often found in grocery stores or gas stations, where customers could rent DVDs or video games.[1] In 2020, Redbox also offered a streaming app, where customers could purchase and stream content.[2] In 2022 Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment acquired Redbox while the company had $300 million in debt.[3] In June 2024, its parent company filed for bankruptcy, and the following month, the company was liquidated.[4]
Consumer impact summary[edit | edit source]
Freedom[edit | edit source]
For users in the Redbox Perks Program who make a deletion request, they will be given 5 days notice before their account is deleted.[5] Regarding data retention, purchase information, account information (email, username, password, etc.), and video rental history is held for 7 years after the purchase, with driver's licenses and specific card information for 6 months and a year respectively.[5]
Privacy[edit | edit source]
According to the last revision of the Redbox privacy policy, collected data includes contact information (email, phone, address, name), user account information (username, password, settings), payment information, device ID/interaction information (IP address, device model, operating system, etc.), precise/specific location data, transaction information, video history, demographic information (gender, age, zip code), employment information, data revealing ethnic origin, government identification, information about your interests and preferences, user generated content (reviews, forum, surveys), loyalty/rewards information, and educational/biometric data.[5] Redbox mentions they do not share personal data "for those third parties’ own direct marketing purposes unless you consent (opt-in or opt-out) to such sharing.", though de-identified information that is made "non-personal" through hashes is shared. These parties include Google Analytics, Facebook, and Twitter.
Business model[edit | edit source]
The business model of Redbox is for customers to rent DVDs from kiosk machines or to rent/buy TV shows and movies.
Market control[edit | edit source]
Previously, Netflix and Gamefly were Redbox's biggest competitors. From 2019 to 2024, Redbox made $597.8 million in revenue with Netflix making $181.5 million from DVD rentals.[6] With the closure of the Netflix DVD mail service in 2023, Redbox was the primary way to rent DVDs until its bankruptcy.[7]
Incidents[edit | edit source]
Removal of purchased content (2024)[edit | edit source]
RedBox found itself bankrupt, largely due to mismanagement from executives and shut down all of its services.[8] This would not just include the RedBox kiosks, but also their streaming platform.
From the shutdown, all users who had purchased content could not download or view any content, including one Roku user who claims that they lost approximately $10,000 of media.[9] RedBox did not redefine terms such as “own” or “purchase” in their terms of service like Sony. RedBox only limits in their terms of service how many devices purchased content can be downloaded to.
Broader implications[edit | edit source]
Since this content was purchased digitally and nothing is guaranteed through physical ownership, companies are able to revoke, or suddenly fail to provide legitimately purchased content.[10] Any consumer who bought content on RedBox, using legitimate avenues to view the content, are ultimately punished for viewing content the right way, which incentivizes illegal means of viewing content.
This issue is not limited to Redbox: a similar result may occur with any digital-media company that either goes bankrupt or does not honor terms such as “purchase” or “own”. Every large company that provides digital content engages, or has the capacity to engage, in revoking purchased content, which either were or were not defined in the terms of service.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "From Zero to $2B: Lessons from Redbox Founder Gregg Kaplan". Dando. 2019-01-14. Archived from the original on 2025-04-11. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ Perez, Sarah (2020-02-17). "Redbox enters the free, ad-supported streaming market". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2025-04-11. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
- ↑ Ruberg, Sara (2024-06-30). "Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Files Chapter 11". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2025-02-25. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ u/AzothHg (2024-07-07). "A Redbox Retrospective from an Employee". Reddit. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Redbox Privacy Policy". Redbox. 2023-06-30. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30.
- ↑ "DVD, Game & Video Rental in the US - Market Research Report (2014-2029)". Ibis World. 2024-12-01. Archived from the original on 2025-01-26. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ Kelly, Samantha (2023-09-29). "Netflix shutters its DVD rental business, marking the end of the red envelope era". CNN. Archived from the original on 2025-02-09. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ Roettgers, Janko (2024-06-21). "Redbox missed a multimillion-dollar payment it couldn't afford to miss". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2025-04-04. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ DSHouston07 (2024-07-06). "Re: Redbox bankrupt... app shows nothing". Roku Community. Archived from the original on 2025-01-26. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Transaction Terms and Conditions". 2021-10-20. Archived from the original on 2024-09-27.