I'm not sure why registered users gets in the way.  If you don't want registered users to see either module, then you don't have to assign it view/edit rights.

Also don't forget that you can automatically assign users to any number of roles when they register.  Just check the "Auto" checkbox in the role editor to accomplish this.

If just having users automatically in the registered users role is a problem, you could probably go into the DB and turn off auto-assignment of that role.  I'm not sure why the UI even blocks an administrator from turning off auto for that role.

I understand what you're suggesting, John. The only thing I cannot figure out in building such a solution is how to automatically remove the users from 'registered' users once they are added to the subscription role. any suggestions? Is my only option to write a sql query and schedule it?

I don't think you need to worry too much about conforming with any code standards to achieve this. With the thoughts you're bringing in here I think we would be just fine to do some sort of 'update users set role1=false where role2=true' kinda thing and simply plug it into the scheduled jobs. I haven't had a look at the database structure yet, but I'm sure you're right that that is the way to go.

Do you want to have a go at it, or should I put some SQL code together? Maybe one of the core members would comment on that solution? Is it viable? We should probably be aware of any data structural changes made to the tables when updates are applied though.