[al2o3cr]

Pointing at a bigger gang of crooks and saying, "see, they're doing it too" doesn't make anybody involved less of a crook...

To me, the whole situation is an incredible demonstration of why "free markets solve everything correctly" is only (even potentially) true as N_participants -> infinity - and even more so a direct lesson in how thoroughly a "market" can fail when it's too small...

[clarkm]

Why does this make them crooks? This whole thing is just a very convoluted form of gambling -- it's a game. If you bluff when playing poker, does that make you a crook?

[Helianthus]

I think the relevant distinction here is that the 'crooks' we're discussing aren't likely to be held legally accountable for their activities.