Blackmail.

Blackmail refers to having information or details on somebody that they don’t want people to know. When this information is obtained it is used again the person for the blackmailers own gain, in which most cases money is given in return for their silence. Although illegal, this definitely occurs in society and can have devastating effects on people’s lives, as a vicious circle can begin; once money is obtained, the blackmailer can go back repeatedly and demand more money for their silence. However some people realise that the information is not worth the loss of their money, which in certain cases can be thousands of pounds, and decide to divulge the information themselves and bring justice to the blackmailer.

Last year US talk show host David Letterman (above) was caught in the middle of a blackmail attempt, he had returned to his car one night to find a package on his back seat left by someone claiming to have information regarding sexual activity between Letterman and the female staff on his show. Due to Letterman having a long time partner, the blackmailer thought this would be embarrassing information that would want to be kept quiet and demanded $2 Million to keep quiet. Letterman chose to come clean about the affairs himself and involved himself in a sting operation in which a counterfeit cheque was given to the blackmailer, who was eventually arrested by police monitoring the set up. The blackmailer was Robert Halderman who worked as a producer on a drama on the same network of Letterman’s show, initially he denied the charges and pleaded not guilty in court before changing his plea to guilty:

"In September of 2009, I attempted to extort $2 million from David Letterman by threatening to disclose personal and private information about him, whether true or false," Mr Halderman, 52, told the judge. "This so-called treatment was just a thinly veiled threat to ruin Mr Letterman if he did not pay me a lot of money."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8558781.stm

This is a serious topic and I believe that this is one the instances in which the actions are completely wrong, I personally believe there is no good in this actions whatsoever, it is simply greed. Although it may be argued that the person being blackmailed may have done something which may be seen as morally wrong, the use of blackmail is just as bad. If I ever had to advise anyone in this situation I would tell them to come clean about their secrets as it is a lot better to face the consequences for a while before everything is forgiven and forgotten about, rather than be controlled by blackmail.