Recently several people on a web-forum I frequent started talking about plagiarism and the discovery that articles they had posted had been copied. In some cases, whole websites had been stolen. This group, Alan's Forum, run by consulting guru Alan Weiss, includes some of the top consultants in the world.
I decided to run my own test. I picked 5 of the hundreds of articles and postings I have on line. Every one of them showed up without attribution on someone else's website. Angry cannot begin to describe my reaction. My hard work and intellectual property has been stolen. I'm contacting the offenders, several of whom have apologized while blaming the error on their web-developer.
For anyone unsure, plagiarism is theft. You cannot copy someone's work and call it your own. You cannot use someone's work without credit. Link to my pages – great. Quote me – fine. Use a paragraph from a posting of mine and attribute it to me – thank you for spreading the word. However, steal my work and I will hunt you down.
What can be done? Well, first I am adding stronger fair-use policies on my sites – just so it's clear what is right and wrong. I am also using a service to track the use of my stuff. Those that use my material without attribution who are members of associations or accreditation agencies will be reported to their ethics boards. Those who serve on the faculty of colleges and universities will be reported to the administration of the institutions. I will report copyright infringements to web hosting companies and ISPs. I will do everything I can to stop my intellectual property from being stolen.
I teach at a local community college. All instructors are required to provide students with a statement on plagiarism. I told my class that if I caught them cheating on a test or plagiarizing work that I would fail them and make it my life's mission to have them expelled. Stealing and cheating is wrong. The penalties for dishonesty should be severe. Our colleagues, clients, and the world must know that our standards are high.
I decided to run my own test. I picked 5 of the hundreds of articles and postings I have on line. Every one of them showed up without attribution on someone else's website. Angry cannot begin to describe my reaction. My hard work and intellectual property has been stolen. I'm contacting the offenders, several of whom have apologized while blaming the error on their web-developer.
For anyone unsure, plagiarism is theft. You cannot copy someone's work and call it your own. You cannot use someone's work without credit. Link to my pages – great. Quote me – fine. Use a paragraph from a posting of mine and attribute it to me – thank you for spreading the word. However, steal my work and I will hunt you down.
What can be done? Well, first I am adding stronger fair-use policies on my sites – just so it's clear what is right and wrong. I am also using a service to track the use of my stuff. Those that use my material without attribution who are members of associations or accreditation agencies will be reported to their ethics boards. Those who serve on the faculty of colleges and universities will be reported to the administration of the institutions. I will report copyright infringements to web hosting companies and ISPs. I will do everything I can to stop my intellectual property from being stolen.
I teach at a local community college. All instructors are required to provide students with a statement on plagiarism. I told my class that if I caught them cheating on a test or plagiarizing work that I would fail them and make it my life's mission to have them expelled. Stealing and cheating is wrong. The penalties for dishonesty should be severe. Our colleagues, clients, and the world must know that our standards are high.
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