Lesson #26 Morality and Ethics
Written By Titmowse

If you believe that porn is immoral, then you’re probably not going to make a very good adult webmaster. There’s nothing more demoralizing than the salesman who exploits a product he doesn’t believe in. If you’re not okay with the whole smut thing, then maybe you should try another field. Adult entertainment is a legal business. Adult webmasters aren’t criminals except for the ones who act like criminals.

Regardless of what moralists say, what we do is legitimate and most of us follow the letter of the law. The adult Internet has a code of ethics and we like to think ­at least individually- we’re moral people.

As an example, most adult sponsors have rules which, if violated, will result in the termination of an affiliate account. A few sponsors add an extra infraction or two to their affiliate agreement terms, but the majority of them state these transgressions universally:

No CP or Bestiality.

These two types of obscenity are forbidden industry-wide. Yes, there are places where zoophilia is legal and there are countries where the age of consent is lower than eighteen. Despite that, %99.9 of adult sponsors will cancel your account if you use taboo content to sell their programs.

No Spam.

If you manage to get the domain of your sponsor on a spam filter database, it won’t matter how much money you made for them. You’re not going to get any of it. Yes there are affiliates who spam millions of inboxes with bit-waste. They don’t get away with it for long. Eventually they are found out by the sponsor or turned in by another webmaster. They are terminated and the sponsor keeps the dough.

No Stolen Content.

For some bizarre reason, there are silly webmasters who use content, which doesn’t belong to them. Many of these thieves try to justify their crimes by pointing out the availability of free porn. Sponsors don’t want stolen content associated with their product Steal content, lose your affiliate money.

Adult sponsors aren’t the only ones who abide by these three basic rules. TGPs, top lists, designers, content producers and hosts all follow them. When you look a little deeper, they’re not rules but moral codes. Don’t harm children or animals. Do respect the customer’s privacy. Don’t steal.

There are other ethical standards, which concern adult webmasters. Many of us have a problem with false or misleading advertising. When dialers first came out, there were webmasters who forced downloads on unsuspecting surfers. There were also providers who misdirected dialer customers into calling foreign phone numbers. Long before lawmakers took action against such tactics, the adult web community spoke out against dishonest dialer marketing.

The truth is, you’ll probably encounter another webmaster who operates unethically and makes good money. Before you follow that path, watch. His peers will reveal that webmaster to be a crook. He will be banished and his business will dry up. Our industry has enough problems with fickle moralists and uneducated legislators. We don’t need lawbreakers or cheats.