Lucky Green writes:
Should wreak havoc with the mail order video tape rental business, with those handy pre-paid 4th class labels you just slap on the tapes before dropping in the nearest mailbox.
A video tape weighs less than a pound.
Most video rental by mail places, like Facets or Movies Unlimited, rent up to three tapes at once, and use a single appropriately sized box. I suppose they will have to start packaging each tape separately. The typical package one sends back to a book club when they ship you the latest pulp fiction even though you sent the little card back in time weighs about two pounds. But, as Tim points out, there's always UPS, or one of the other services that will pick up at your door and is happy to have your business. The Washington Post says... "Reacting to growing concerns about mail bombs, the Postal Service said yesterday that it is taking the extrordinary step of prohibiting customers from depositing any stamped packages weighing 16 ounces or more in its collection boxes. "Posthamster General Marvin T. Runyon said the action was being taken to 'enhance security measures and to protect the traveling public, postal employees, and postal contractors who transport US mail.'" Persons who use postage meters and mail domestically are exempt from the new rule. (!) So I guess if the video place sends you a metered sticker for the return postage, you can still drop the tapes in the box. I'm not quite sure what they are trying to accomplish, other than to leap on the "we're doing our part to inconvenience the public over terrorism" bandwagon. -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ mpd@netcom.com $ via Finger. $