After backing dead-in-the-water Blockbuster via an exclusive deal on new releases, Warner Bros proved that their idiocy holds no bounds by delaying 28 days any releases to RedBox or Netflix. In exchange, I can only imagine Netflix agreed not to point and laugh at them when the idea surfaces as cosmically dumb.

Warner Bros, however, overwhelmed with a supposed spike in DVD sales that suggests that data analysis means more than knowing how to use Excel, now wants to extend the delay on Redbox and Netflix releases. After all, if a 28 day delay happened to coincide with an increase in DVD sales, a longer delay will REALLY rake in the cash, right? Well, it rained once right after I sneezed, but that doesn’t mean I pack an umbrella when I have a cold.

No one can blame WB for trying to get more money for their stuff – that’s what capitalism is all about. But let’s hope they don’t act all shocked to find that people who were willing to pay a buck to see Jonah Hex aren’t so naive as to pay $20 to buy it. Or – assuming you can even find a Blockbuster nowadays – paying $4 for the same privilege.

Just as likely, someone who would pay a buck or gladly watch a stinker like Hex streaming via Netflix will now feel much more compelled to find a pirated copy online than hit up Best Buy. If WB were smart enough to realize that such customers are still fewer than the price insensitive hyper-consumers who buy flicks like Hex on BluRay without so much as a cursory glance at IMDb ratings, and therefore let the inevitable increase in downloads be, it would be one thing.

Alas, surely to couple the supposed increase in DVD sales will be an increase in infringement notices to those customers who used to enjoy WB movies from Redbox or Netflix. A greater window between release to the DVD market and to these innovative distributors may well broaden the pool of pirates even further. Perhaps Netflix can stifle a giggle while WB figures this out.