It's worth pointing out that certain normal business practices can feel unethical to us (programmers) because of conditioning. For instance, a good deal in bus

It's worth pointing out that certain normal business practices can feel unethical to us (programmers) because of conditioning. For instance, a good deal in business is one where you all a good for more than it costs. If you were a freelance developer, that might mean charging a large amount for a feature of high business value because you know the client will pay, even though it doesn't cost you much to do. Another aspect is information asymmetry. In the above instance, lieing about how many hours the feature would range to implement would be unethical for sure. But not saying how long it would take - charging for features and keeping the cost to implement to yourself - probably not. Then we get to practices like subscriptions you expect people will forget to cancel (see every consumer facing sas), or building a platform with the intention it will be hard to leave (no export or api = a moat = Facebook) Are these unethical though? I think mostly not. You need a business model, and business models mean not running things like you are doing a favour for your uncle. I think the line is where you mislead or get your customer to do things potentialy against thier interests without telling them they are taking a risk.