Plagiarizing and stealing content is immoral and unethical. "This is just how we do things in Russia" is not an excuse. We shouldn't be promoting this behavior. Anyone with half a brain can make money stealing stuff and serving it via an API.
Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware [video] (2016) (youtube.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13605599
I'm reproducing a part of a comment from there:
> One could say the evolutionary process is based on this principle.
> Copy. Paste. Improve. Repeat.
What have I just done? In no way am I supporting or suggesting that plagiarism or content theft is a model to follow, but I do believe that people learn from what others do and build on that.
Running this SaaS lead me to the idea of launching a service where authors can sell their content for social networks. It's going to be super hard doing this in Russia but it's worth the try.
But some people simply can't understand the incremental evolution. They demand turning a desert into a garden at once.
Instead of warping your mind with a set of rationalizations that excuse your behavior, maybe try to accept the responsibility.
I just somewhat dislike people shouting moral slogans, that's all. Especially people that have little understanding of the ecosystem in general. Sorry.
Morality/ethics/blah blah is always based on local customs. As people were fine with doing this anyway, then there is no need to import/impose "American" morality.
Don't let any of these high-horse/armchair quarterbacks tell you any different.
Thanks for taking the time to write an article. Hope this doesn't introduce a bunch of competitors into your market!