Here's a hint: paying $9.99 (or $0.99 or $0.01, if that's the price that's set) makes you a real customer. The definition of customer is "someone who exchanged his money for your goods/services"; it does not matter the quantity. All money is equally green.

Exclusivity is another name for rent-seeking. HBO has every right to publish (and not publish) its content in the manner of its choosing, but I don't have to like it.

I bought the Game of Thrones books instead; which I was able to do, at physical and virtual locations, individually or in a boxed set, at a fair and reasonable price, at my leisure. Oh, and I can resell them after I've finished reading them.

Funny, that.