> To accommodate peak demand, Netflix would have to do what Blockbuster does: order a metric truckload of Wolverine, then either let it suck up shelf space or dispose of it somehow after the spike was over

Or just burn more copies. The cost of a disc is probably less than the postage. But they'd have to get a license for that, which leads back to same reason: studios charge more for popular movies. Renting good movies on Netflix is hard for the same reason it's hard on iTunes, which has no inventory problem.