I loved that thread when it first hit. Reminds me of that guy who was talking about how he was the one gaming AdWords on ringtones. He figured out the system, then exploited it until it was bled dry...but not until he laughed himself all the way to the bank.
You find something that works, keep it to yourself, train about 50 people, scale it, and ride that gravy train for as long as it lasts.
Better yet, hit ymii or brickwork and pay some Indians $3 an hour to do it for you.
Once the jig is up, find a way around the new obstacles, or move on to the next exploit.
THAT is the definition of 'black hat'.
tj, I think you will find that the doubts will go away, once you get ON with it. I would stop wasting time checking this thread and start sending e-mails saying "let's go!".