Judge for yourself My prepaid site that was hotly debated in G'day from sunny yeppoon

[Marlnet]

Originally Posted by newbie

This is an affiliate forum.

And therein lies the irony, this is a forum about making money off people...

[aguawebs]

Thanks for the slur - ah well, its a forum.

You do need to calm down though... it is probably the wrong place for an argument like this (and no, please don't add a special forum for it )

[aguawebs]

it is probably the wrong place for an argument like this

Time to leave this thread now - I'm bored

[Marlnet]

If this keeps up much longer people will be wanting to stone the crow...

[newbie]

Originally Posted by Crow

Paul,

It didnt actually spark rage. I wrote a short reply to an intro thread with a question on whether Justin had thought on what he does. Of course its not black and white. I have also written I dont have a problem with nudity, consenting adult sex, fantasy etc. The posts continued so I made my point as clear as I could.

You would need to properly read these as I dont wish to go over it all again. I dont think people are morally bankrupt because of their interests. I go quite deeply into how I think we all got into such a state where people pay for sexual pleasure.

I would think its actually the initial fear of nature, body and sex - the distrust of nature, that got us into a mess.

Now however the mess has set in and the concept of seeing people as commodity, has lead to much pain and abuse. If we had respect for all life, compassion and no problem with people walking about naked and no problem with adult consenting sex in any way shape or form, then we would not be in a situation where people crave to catch a naked sight to the point of paying money. I fully believe in nudity and nature actually.

Now I have really written enough on this here. I can only rest assured that noone here is likely to have a daytime job whereby they are responsible for say making sure people in investigation, intelligence and security studied ethics. An ethicist would recognise the possibility that an industry based on sex may pay into industries of abuse. They may also note that making a silent money trail allows activities that may feed very cruel habbits. There is much written on this in studies of criminology - perhaps you could read some of this.

My whole commentry was there to be, as always, a reminder for the need to consider ethics in industry. That is all.

Crow

Crow,

Many years ago I was contracted to perform a forensic analysis of a community club computer which involved recovering deleted and hidden files.

I found child pornography.

I was threatened and encountered roadblocks and pressure from both the club and the parent organisation but I used every legal means possible to ensure that the matter was reported to police and properly investigated. I also engaged with the national organisation to be certain that action was taken because this was a community club attended by children.

What I saw was so shocking that I had to undergo counselling in order to get on with my life. Even today, some images unexpectedly make me feel queasy.

Crow, there are people who do things and there are people who just talk about doing things. You have got to decide which one you are going to be.

Justin obviously has a backbone, I would like to hear more from him if only because it makes a refreshing change.

[newbie]

Originally Posted by Crow

Newbie,

I made a comment on how your earlier comments would be seen by someone just coming onto the thread. Now you have made the strengths of your real beliefs clear I am glad. I also have strong experiences that lead me to write about about ethics.

In my life I have also shown backbone which none of my close friends would ever dispute. Justin doesnt show a backbone, just a desire to make money. He is not under any harsh social attack as you may note just by the comments on this forum. I was immediately alienated and misquoted for my comments and Justin was very hungrily backed. I am not so weak though to have crawled away.

If you stood up as you say in the past to such matters I applaud you and I applaud your sensitivity to the abuse of others.

Crow

Crow, mate, I think you took a wrong turn.

This is an a.f.f.i.l.i.a.t.e forum.

It is not an "ethics" forum.

One post of your skewed version of reality would have been welcomed but your obsession with this thread makes me embarassed for you.

[newbie]

Originally Posted by Crow

Enough Now.

If only I could be sure =))

[newbie]

Originally Posted by Marlnet

And therein lies the irony, this is a forum about making money off people...

"The purpose of a business is to create a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and those that it serves. When it does that well, it will be around tomorrow to do it some more."

--John Woods, Founder, CWL Publishing.

[bcl]

Originally Posted by newbie

Crow, mate, I think you took a wrong turn.

This is an a.f.f.i.l.i.a.t.e forum.

It is not an "ethics" forum.

One post of your skewed version of reality would have been welcomed but your obsession with this thread makes me embarassed for you.

Yes, it is an affiliate forum, and ethics is part of affiliate marketing just as it is in any business. Perhaps a bigger part than many because of the range of opportunities and the new ground in business models.

You make ethical decisions when you decide to promote or not promote - whether adult products, gambling, get rich quick, adware programs or stuff that clutters our houses and fills landfill.

You make ethical decisions when you decide how you promote (ppc, brandbid, forced click, honest description, etc).

You include ethical decisions when you decide who you promote.

You make an ethical decision when you decide whether to declare your affiliate income honestly with the tax office.

You make an ethical decision when you decide whether or not to tell someone that they are being tricked.

If you think you don't deal with ethical decisions every day, remember that zero is still a number. No decision = no ethics.

So when Justin decided on his business, he decided that it was within his ethical boundaries. That's fine, that's his decision and he should feel comfortable justifying that.

I decide my ethical boundaries and am comfortable with them.

HarveyJ did the same.

And so did Crow.

Yet, Crow is the only one being pilloried for stating her ethical position. She's not proposing that no affiliates should promote this stuff - she trying to get a discussion on the ethics going. It could be quite an interesting and useful discussion, especially for new affiliates who haven't been faced with these decisions yet. I think the most interesting posts have been the ones where people read and put in a thoughtful response (harvey J, marlnet, crow) rather than glib one-liners or when you reel out your "concerned for you" and "embarrassed for you" lines.

A google search brings up about 251,000 for ethics in affiliate marketing - all those people must know something you don't.

[newbie]

Originally Posted by bcl

all those people must know something you don't.

I am not surprised that you are unable to discern the difference between the ethics of affiliate marketing and the ethics of sexual proclivities.

[bcl]

Originally Posted by newbie

I am not surprised that you are unable to discern the difference between the ethics of affiliate marketing and the ethics of sexual proclivities.

Jim, that sort of remark is unnecessary and uncalled for.
I was merely pointing out why ethics should be discussed on an affiliate forum because you didn't seem to be able to understand that it had a place here.

[Tim]

Closed guys. GOing no where.