In spite of the fact that Netflix has done an awful lot in the last year to distance itself from the disc-by-mail service that made it a household name, the company apparently still wants to be associated with the shiny discs.

Earlier this week, Netflix purchased the URL DVD.com, which now redirects to DVD.netflix.com, a portal to sign up for the disc-by-mail service, for people who aren’t already logged into the site.

But why buy the URL when Netflix went so far as to, in a spectacular error of judgment, briefly spin off its DVD business into something called Qwikster?

“Netflix cares about keeping DVD healthy,” says Netflix rep Steve “I’m not related to the guy from Dirty Dancing” Swasey, “and this is just one small investment in keeping DVD healthy.”

Of course, should Netflix ever decide to make another go at spinning off a DVD-only company, it now has a URL that people won’t make fun of.

Confirmed: Netflix buys DVD.com [DomainNameWire.com via GigaOm.com]

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