It's commonplace in my experience. I wouldn't call it borderline criminal, but many startups cross moral lines. I find it absolutely despicable, that people can

It's commonplace in my experience. I wouldn't call it borderline criminal, but many startups cross moral lines. I find it absolutely despicable, that people can rationalize their ethics away. "I know what I'm doing is wrong, but when we have revenue we can afford to do the right thing.", and other the-end-justifies-the-means rubbish. It's easy (and perhaps even tempting) to cut corners but what good are ethics when you throw them out the moment they become inconvenient? So yes, the behavior is to be castigated, and I have no respect for people who're willing to fuck their customers/users/suppliers in order to make it as an entrepreneur.