That doesn't really seem to paint Joyent in a very favorable light.
IMHO, it wasn't a good idea for TextDrive to sell lifetime subscriptions, but if Joyent knew that when they purchased TextDrive, they should have continued to honor them.
TextDrive and Joyent were founded by the same people. Joyent continued to sell "lifetime" plans after it consumed TextDrive.
Here's a screenshot ( http://cl.ly/UFhp ) from one of their lifetime offers. Of note: "How long will it last? As long as we exist." At that point, early 2006, TextDrive was a Joyent company. Joyent still exists.
IMHO, it wasn't a good idea for TextDrive to sell lifetime subscriptions, but if Joyent knew that when they purchased TextDrive, they should have continued to honor them.