As much as this isn't uncommon these days I think things like this make it all the more likely for the government and the banks to come down on the industry. I don't think anyone here wants that.
I've always wondered why more people don't make their trials different than the standard model. Here's an example. Give the trial member full access to the members area but tell them they can download or access no more than 5-20 (pick a number) videos of their choice
and make this very clear on the join page. Once they go over the limit present the upsell to the full membership. They would have access to any video in theory (so no issues with movies being on the tour but not in the trial member area) but they are limited on how many they can access with their trial membership. Main disadvantage which I see would be some added complexity in the required scripting and databases (you need to keep track of access to the videos for trial members only). This approach might even increase revenues over the current model if done correctly. It certainly seems less shady as well.
