Free Republic

It used to be impossible to get any cheesier than the old 12 CDs for 1 penny deal that Columbia House used to hook new members. The CDs tended to be turkeys bound for the discount rack and the artists one mediocre release away from being a Vegas lounge act that no one was quite willing book on a weekend night. The Columbia House program conveniently emptied the corporate warehouses of unwanted plasticware and wasted rolls of film and basically suckered chumps and losers into buying a bunch of stuff no one really considered entertaining. Well now they've gone one...

Columbia House, famous for its "12 CDs for a penny" record clubs, will launch its own adult video club with Playboy Entertainment at the end of this month. The service, called Hush, will sell pornography through direct mail and a Web site. While 50-year-old Columbia House is eager to cash in on the $12 billion porn business, officials are pretty hush hush about Hush.