Plagiarism Bad

[Midnite]

... quoting ideally should be done with the author's permission, though it's good that you acknowledged the source and that there's a link to [the] site.  However, the source page is often best ...

... everyone can consider this a reminder. 

Copying usually isn't a problem that the mods have to deal with, but in the past several days a message board, an e-list, and a personal website have contained information taken verbatim from posts appearing on DS Forums.  The forum cousins didn't credit the original poster, provide links, nor obtain the permission of the 3 different authors.

To avoid getting into a situation in which you receive a warning from the forum mods for copying, if you're providing information here or elsewhere PLEASE use your own words as much as possible and generously credit your sources.  If you must quote someone, obtain their permission.  But if the information you're providing isn't widely available and you're not giving any credit for it, you are committing online plagiarism.

[Midnite]

Me again.

When a cousin posts a link to their own webpage on the Forums, a lot of readers probably assume that the poster is consenting for that link to appear elsewhere.  But can you share the link however you wish?  Or does the linkee have a say as to where it will appear?  It would seem that Implied Public Access extends to the web, though there's actually not enough legal precedent to clarify the issue.  However, our visitors may have noticed that MysteriousB, dom and I often fall back on the law of the internet known as Netiquette, and Netiquette dictates that the linkee has a say in the matter.

I bring this up because I'm asking readers to use common sense should they wish to distribute a link to a personal webpage that appears on DS Forums.  There are situations in which it's the poster's intent that links to their own webpages only appear here.  An example is a link posted in a topic celebrating a cousin's recent birthday; it was not posted with the intention that the linked page be seen oustide the context of that birthday topic.

If I've lost anyone, I apologize.  Hopefully this will help to make it clearer-- if you're unsure if it's appropriate to distribute a hypertext link to a personal webpage that appears here, you have one of two options:  you can ask the linkee for permission to directly share the link and proceed only if you receive it, OR, you can direct the recipients to the post on the Forums that contains the link.  The latter insures that everyone is viewing the link in its proper context, on the site on which it was intended to be seen, with the credit for the work and any needed instructions or explanations intact.

Thanks!