Each of you has valid points, and I agree with aspects of each point of view.
For me, I think it's the plural sock puppets that have me up-in-arms. That, and authors paying $5 per review and including a copy of the book in question.
I could accept a review from the author, as long as it's made clear who they are, and what they were intending to achieve by posting a review. So long as they are not engaging in subterfuge...
Transparency is what I want to see. I'm employed by the local gov't, and we are always concerned about appearances, wheather they are accurate or not. We are concerend about how things MIGHT look, even if it's not that way.
I'm certain if had a self-pub book, all my friends and family would want to leave a review, much like a child having their artwork prodly displayed on the refrigerator.
It becomes unethical when you are soliciting reviews and paying for them, and slamming honest reviewers who just didn't like the book, genre, whatever.
And I certainly won't part with my hard earned dollar to support some &$$-hole. Same goes for buying goods. If the seller is a jerk, I move on to another vendor. It matters to me, the character of those I do business with.