APRIL 27, 2009 • GameFly has filed an official complaint against the U.S. Postal service accusing the latter of discrimination. The accusation is that the USPS manually culls many of Netflix’s and Blockbuster Video’s mailings from the automated sorting systems in order to avoid damage. GameFly says it has applied for the same service, and was denied. Since it pays the same charges as Netflix and Blockbuster, and cannot receive the same level of service, GameFly cried foul.

Impact: Complaints such as GameFly’s don’t so much beg the question why it didn’t receive the same preferential treatment as its competitors, but “what” exactly Netflix and Blockbuster had to provide the USPS in order to get such treatment. Given some of the biting coverage of USPS executive perks that has surfaced recently, GameFly’s complaint could prove difficult for the mail carrier.