Not this.
I agree with the first two paragraphs. But scraping content and removing attribution is unethical.
Over the years I have heard many anecdotes of successful startups doing shady things in their early days. [1] It makes me think this is an industry norm. Do what it takes to succeed. The ends justify the means. (As long as it's just a white collar crime.)
Am I in the minority for noticing this? Or for caring to the point of construing an action such as content scraping without attribution as going down an ethical slippery slope? Do other entrepreneurs consider this viewpoint as being weak and uncompetitive?
More than any of my other comments, I'm hoping to get replies here rather than silent views or votes.
[1] Facebook and the Social Network has been the most sensationalized. But for my argument, let's remove instances of intra-company squabbles. They are often he said, she said; a company's interactions with the public should be easier to interpret.
You can also troll around in related forums and just start personal relationships with people. Start your own curated newsletter.
I also would recommend scraping fake posts from forums rather than coming up with your own. Put fake usernames, etc. Otherwise it ain't gonna be scalable. I rather invest my time in marketing than creating fake discussions.