Redbox Environment Scan

The company I have chosen to do the external environment scan is Redbox.

Redbox is in the movie rental business via self service kiosks. Redbox is wholly owned subsidiary of Coinstar Inc.

Laws and Regulations:

There are some specific laws and regulations under which the movie rental business like Redbox should operate. But due to the growing popularity of renting videos through mail, online and kiosks, most of these laws will probably have to change or modified to fit the new way of people renting and watching movies.

Age of Renters – This law for who can rent specific videos follow the same guidelines set by Motion Picture Association of America. These guidelines are based on their content, language, sexuality, violence and themes.

Privacy Laws – This law protects the video rental records of individuals as the records can be damaging to a person’s reputation and they cannot be disclosed without written consent.

Public exhibition – Videos and DVDs are not allowed to be publicly exhibited outsides of a persons home unless for non profit use or educational purposes without a license.

Federal Copyright Act – This law governs how copyrighted materials can be used and distributed. The movie studios who own copyrights are the only parties who are authorized to license sites to display movies for protection of their intellectual properties.

Antitrust laws – these laws promote or maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trade and competition between business.

The Economy

Redbox is in the movie rental business. The present state of economy may actually increase Redbox’s business as more people would rent a movie instead of going to the theaters or owning the movie. Redbox’s rentals are reasonably priced at one dollar a night making it very affordable to rent it even in this bad economy.

Technology

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