I'm not sure that is the salient point. We are consumers, we got (many of us) units free or near free. I was going to continue my sub with or without a free receiver, so in practical terms, the receiver was free. I already was an HD subscriber and I paid good money for my Sammy T360. Getting the HR20 for twenty bucks made my day.
The issue isn't altruism, it's having a good business model. As you have noted, they know what they are doing and it's SMART. When the HR20 gets the big bugs out and the big features in, it will sell itself...and they will SELL plenty of them. Then, as you noted, they will collect sub fees for years and make even more money.
I don't see anything wrong or "tainted" in what they are doing. They certainly took care of me.
The one thing I see to object to is how you are treated is, to some extent, determined by what you know. If you know enough to call CR and put the screws to them, you get great deals and considerations. If you don't, you pay, and sometimes pay way too much. Something about that approach doesn't sit well with me. I knew who to call and what to say (which, I might add was completely true, I did not lie to them), so I did really well and am extremely happy with their service and the HR20 in its early stages. Lots of work to be done, to be sure, but I have every reason to believe D* will get there.
As to those who paid good money for the HR20, or got it thinking "mission critical" performance, I have great empathy for them. It's been a tough ride, and it ain't over yet.