DALLAS, Texas - Blockbuster has thrown a curve at the movie rental market by implementing its radical new "Pay Per Day" plan. Under the plan, patrons select a movie to rent and pay a fee for that day's rental. If the renter returns the movie on time, no further fees are incurred. If the movie is kept additional days, late fees accrue until the movie is returned.

"So, we pay to rent the movie, and if we return it late, we pay a fee. This is different? Haven't we been doing exactly that for the past three-hundred years or so?" asked one woman, browsing the aisles in a local Blockbuster.

"Oh, it's different. Believe me, it's different," said Blockbuster store manager Juan Anuejob, "It's a whole new experience for us. The staff is always asking me questions about it. I went to a three-day seminar in Dallas to get trained on it."

According to the new policy, weekly and two-day rentals are no longer offered. In their place, users can choose to rent a movie for one day, then return it one day or six days late and pay the applicable fee. "What are they thinking?" asked Mark Wattles, CEO of Hollywood Video, a Blockbuster competitor, "With DVD's for sale at near-rental prices and digital TV able to bring a whole video store into people's living rooms, there couldn't be a worse time to make it more expensive to rent movies! Hollywood Video will not be following suit, of course, but this makes us all look like idiots."

The "Pay Per Day" plan is being tested in select markets throughout the United States and Canada, according to Anuejob, and will roll out nationally this summer if it is deemed a success.

Blockbuster corporate did not return our calls for comment. The Blockbuster.com web site is silent on the issue.
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