Not only this would be a distraction but I don't think it makes business sense for them. In my opinion exclusivity is key to their long term strategy in a streaming world. They already have the best distribution channel you can think of why would they need to licence their content?

Yes I think you are right about exclusivity. I think what they paid for House of Cards is significantly more than what they pay for other shows. That is really my questioning about the model. But yes, they paid the premium to not only show it, but for exclusivity. If you are right they could license it outside the US.

It would make sense if they had no intention to aggressively expand abroad. They are doing exactly the oposite. In the last two years they launched in 20+ countries. Like I said they have the ultimate distribution platform for their content and the cost of expending it abroad is marginal, a couple of CDN deals and some marketing.