ethics is a tough topic in this day and age because it isn't taught the way it used to be. Most people to some extent are expected to just somehow develop them on their own. That doesn't mean they aren't necessary, just that many young people today aren't taught them.
There was a time when the number one ethical value was that "a man is only as good as his word". Every kid learned this as they were growing up and by the time they were ready to enter the workforce or the business world this concept was a core foundation of our principles.
Today people don't seem to be learning these types of things, which is why so much is going wrong in the world financially. People think that it's OK to just say whatever they need to in order to get what they want, but then when it comes time to back up they're words many people are willing to sell off their integrity just to make a few bucks.
It's pretty sad really, because if you take away everything else, all that your left with is how much you can be trusted. If a person's word means nothing, then really as an individual neither do they. Without integrity a man is worth nothing more than his possessions.
That doesn't mean you can't have integrity and still do blackhat things. There isn't anything wrong with taking advantage of situations when they present themselves, it just means that you need to keep things on the right side of becoming a scam. You can definately work within some grey areas and still maintain your integrity. Even things as blackhat as ewhoring can be done ethically, as long as you giving the guys what they want. If you say hey go sign up for this offer and then i'll send some naked pics, then as long as you send him some naked pics you stood by your word. The fact that it isn't you is a grey area, but all he really wants is to see pics of a naked girl. Actually if you came clean and told him you weren't a girl, that would be worse. Standing by your word in that situation really means send him some pics that he can reasonably believe is the girl he thinks he's talking to. In this type of case you're just offering a fantasy, so that's what needs to be delivered. On the other hand if he thinks your a girl and you say send me some money and I'll come out to visit you, then your just scamming him. Unless you have a gf or someone thats willing to go out to meet the guy. That of course would move into the category of prostitution, which isn't really unethical but is definately illegal in most places. LOL.
If you attract visitors to your website because they think they're going to find some info they're looking for, but when they get there you redirect them to some other offer you haven't scammed them. If they aren't interested then they'll just move on, if they are interested then it doesn't really matter how you got them there.
A lot of blackhat methods might be sleazy and it isn't for everyone, but it doesn't necessarily mean you lack integrity.
When you get into things like blackhat site promotion and SEO, it's even less of a problem. In most cases your dealing with things like algorithms. There is nothing unethical about gaming a system. Doing thing such as faking clicks for a cpa offers so you can get paid for nonexistant traffic, stealing someones personal and financial info, or things like that are definately unethical. But blackhat SEO and site promotion isn't about theft, it's just about getting people to see your offers who really might be interested in it.
Where ethics comes into play is every time you read one of the shitlist threads started because someone got scammed. The guy that says he'll provide you some service, takes your money and then doesn't provide service has never learned what integrity is all about. Those people are walking through life thinking they're getting over on people, but really they're just becoming worthless people. By not being good for their word, they've just become worthless people. It's pretty sad really, because people like that could disappear from the world it would really be a better place.
When you're thinking about ethics that's a good place to start. If you were to disappear from the world, would it be a better place?
So, for all you people that were never taught about ethics and integrity. The first principle you should learn is the one I started this post with.
"A man is only as good as his word."
