Originally Posted by themicah
It's more questionable if you're keeping the copy on your hard drive longer than you keep the physical DVD from NetFlix, although I could make a good argument for that being legal, too.
I'm sure the MPAA would disagree, but how exactly are they going to seek enforcement?
As long as you're not distributing copies to third parties or keeping your copies to view them more than once, I personally don't think there's any real problem with copying movies to your hard drive.
Yeah, I agree...I don't see anything ethically wrong with viewing a hard-drive copy of a Netflix DVD and then deleting it before you return the disc. It's not a question of whether you'd get caught - you wouldn't - and I don't even think it's a question of right and wrong. You aren't violating the spirit of your Netflix subscription (e.g., using the strategy to hoard movies on a cheap plan) and you aren't sharing or retaining the content.
To me, I'd simply say...why? It doesn't seem worth the effort. Just throw the disc in your laptop bag and don't worry about manipulating the huge video files. Plus, you get the distinct advantage of getting to drop the DVD in a mailbox as soon as you're done with it - instead of having to go back home and then mail the DVDs.