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Plagiarism!!!!

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jmw

jmw

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Jun 27, 2001
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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so they say.

There are many many forums on the internet and an increasing number of web sites similar to Eng-Tips. Cheresources, is another authoritative site and I also browse Control.com.

But there are lots more and I find them usually when googling something.
I have found, as I'm sure we all have, I'm sure we all have, cross references to threads here.

But occasionally, when browsing these blogs I find similar questions raised there as here and find myself agreeing with some of the answers given.

BUT: and I guess others have found the same, when I find myself thinking "I agree with that answer." it seems rather familiar and then I realise it is my answer copied across almost verbatim.

I at first think it is kind of flattering to be quoted. But then I think I ought to be concerned because quite often I find the quotes are not attributed and there is no link to the original Eng-Tips thread so the bloggers can refer across and see the original question in context and review the entire discussion.

I'm not sure that how safe its is for my answers to be given even by myself, except that in this forum I have some confidence that others will jump on any errors I may make which allows me some confidence, but offered up by others in other threads to other questions.....???

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

JMW
 
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Well, this becomes an ethical question of a different dimension.
The web site that got me all hot and bothered is this one:

Its a Chinese web site and on inspection it looks like they have simply created this forum and to make it look well used and professional they simply ripped off lots of Eng-Tips threads.

Rather than use the original handles, they have assigned new handles on an ad hoc basis. That means my posts appear in different threads attributed to different (female) engineers.
It gets confusing because in some cases the text includes my handle but the poster is allegedly some newbie female; but a different one in different blogs. In other words I don't have one assigned identity in the thread. Its a bit like dubbing hollywood movies but John Wayne gets a different dubber in different films.

All very confusing till you realise they didn't bother to match the text references to handles to match the new handles they have assigned. So Skogs gets referred to in the posts and some one says thanks Skogs and you look for the post referred to but there is none by Skogs.

This is not only plagiarism on a grand scale but wholesale identity theft!

Then I'll see

JMW
 
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Why is this no surprise in the land of counterfeit Gucci handbags and fake Adidas running suits?

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
 
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I don't think there is much we can do about it. When we give info/opinions in here we understand that this is entirely public.
I got a little peeved the first time one member mentioned it, but now tis the weave of the net. [pipe].

[peace]
Fe
 
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Seems too silly; the supposed forum on oil depletion is filled with postings about golf clubs.

This site is pretty much doomed, given the number of useless postings. Most other ripoff sites tend to stick with copying ET verbatim and not have any junk postings. Having to sift through spam postings on software cracks and free credit cards will surely deter most serious engineers.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
 
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IRstuff said:
Having to sift through spam postings on software cracks and free credit cards will surely deter most serious engineers.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure just how many "serious engineers" are scouring Chinese engineering websites to begin with, counterfeit or otherwise!
 
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Well, I arrived there through a Google search. It wasn't till I had been here a while that I realised it was a chinese website.

Now here is a thought. If the original material is copyright, maybe Google could blacklist any sites copying copyright material.... but what's in it for Google? I guess it ain't gonna happen unless search engines become liable for listing site which infringe copywright material. Something like the Mcafee contents warnings might do.

JMW
 
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jmw,

Is the stuff we post here copyright?

Critter.gif
JHG
 
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drawoh, now there is a good question. Also, who owns th copywright.
At a guess we volunteer our responses but they are within a framework created by Eng-Tips and I'd guess Eng Tips does have some kind of protection that is good most places .....except China.
Be interesting to see what the site owners say about it.

JMW
 
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Do you mean this one?
 
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