Cited Plagiarism, Part 2: R.I.P.

As mentioned in my last news entry, the rash of plagiarism allegations from mods, even when you cite a source, is said to be over. I cannot help but think that the sizable opposition to such an unofficial plagiarism rule, along with the fact that it was just plain silly, played a part in ending the fad. Of course a silent repeal of the rule didn't take away my three-month moderated message history with no appeals, after everyone up to Dear Admin stuck with the original moderation, but three karma lost is nothing really and this is more of a moral victory.

One thing I can say is without this effort, we may not have learned as quickly about the higher-ups deciding to change the rule. What I'll never really know is, who knew this unofficial rule was on the books so quickly and marked me for it? Since I was an early victim of enforcement, the guy who marked it must have been following the mods pretty closely to have got wind of the rule and tried it out on me. How would you like that life? I can just imagine that person complaining I spend too much time on this blog, right before they go scour the terms of use for any obscure, hidden mod rule to launch a gotcha game against anyone they don't like. (There's just gotta be a way for gamefaqs mods to punish someone for speaking offsite, right?)

In memory of the cited plagiarism fad, here's some quotes from affected users and people of all persuasions who thought the rule was just plain dumb:

"The topic got modded for illegal activities. Terrible mods." -bsballa09

"That can't be true...That is absurd." -JIC X

"Please dispute it, thats so stupid" -TheRealJiraiya

"Thanks, mods, for killing the first borderline-productive discussion I've ever had with Tails...I love when 90+ post topics suddenly disappear without explanation after having stayed up for weeks, so that I can sit vainly blinking at my posted messages list wondering if I've gone senile or selectively blind." -JIC X

"For the first time ever, I am on Tails's side. The mods literally don't know what the word "entire" means. I'm not sure if I should be laughing or weeping." -TheRunner PD

"On Tail's side for this. Then again, a mod taking Tails seriously is a snowball's chance in hell." -GBALoser

"This is pathetic" -goatthief

"This is f****** stupid. I am usually the last person to complain about the ToS or the moderators. I actually enjoy posting on this site, and have had no issue in the past. This is pretty ridiculous, and such a loosely enforced rule." -StarDestroyer

"Doesn't posting the link along with the text credit the original writer? What the hell gamefaqs?" -biohazard1775

"The mods on this site will never be good at their job. It's not surprise. Just keep chugging along and try to ignore their constant gaffs." -SepirothSama

"What sort of people does the site hire to be a mod? Seems to be mostly jerk high school types who think they're much smarter than they actually are. They consistently provide inane and mind boggling dumb and illogical judgements even after facts are used. I've been lucky to get a couple disputes overturned in the past, but it required A LOT of reasoning and explaining on my part and a bit of luck. They consistently lecture us about following the rules, but those rules often seem arbitrary and inconsistently enforced, and are usually not made with the demographic of this website in mind." -Orange Clockwork

"The one thing everyone on the politics board can agree on: The mods suck at their job." -bsballa09
 
"The mods' vision of copyright isn't based on law or reason; it's raw power, and they wield it like a battleaxe." -JIC X

And finally, the most recent quote from someone who didn't get the memo that the party was over - but who can really blame him when the decisions were all done behind the scenes:

"...and we'll get randomly modded for quoting 4 sentences instead of three because that's how one moderator decided copyright infringement works. never change, gamefaqs." -YouAreCrumbs, in a topic with a cited quote that was four posts long.

After my mid-February moderation, I began to keep a running count of all topics and messages on the politics board alone that broke gmo's definition of plagiarism: 4-5 lines from a source, just like in papers (apparently we've never heard of block quotes). For good measure I even kept a little notepad file of every account that broke the 4-5 line rule at least once. First report can be seen here. The point of the list was to keep a running count of how many messages broke the rule but were not moderated. My point of course was not to say "mod hundreds of these people too" but instead "that one time you modded me was a mistake." And yes, if I heard a message had been moderated I lowered the count by 1, but since that rarely happened the number of non-modded messages remained high. I officially stopped the count yesterday. Here's the final list...

People who broke the copyright law (as gamefaqs defined it):

2PartyOligarchy
aargus
Ambusher86
AstralEye
atmasabr
awittyusername
B4TT3RY
Bahamut
Barkita
BB mofo
BeantownHero
Ben_Jealous
Berenziah Boy Toy
bfslick50
bigbug1992
BIackPrivilege
BlackPrivilege
BobGeorge
bsballa09
Camelotking524
Cannibal_Kitty
CaptnMurica
CC Ricers
ChainedRedone
chaos knight
Creator_Izanagi
CyborgSage00x0
DarkJoker III
Dead4Live
D3p0rtIll3gal5
DeportlIIegaIs
_DH19CM_
Dienekes
DragoneerZero
-Dung-Beetle-
eaglekid85va
eastwoodchairs
EdwardSnowedIn
Evil Genius 9
EvilTrash
Fenriswolf
FindKenshi
flacodiablo
Foreman22
ForsakenHermit
FranknFeinstein
gamesrgreat
Genericgamer667
Genesis Dragon
Ghaszaszh_Nyirh
goatthief
Gogandantess_XV
Goldman_Sachs
Grizzmeister
Heineken14
Human-Bean
hunter_gohan
Hyena 20
IAmChikara
I have no name
ILikesCheese
I-NE-IV
itcheyness
Ivynn
Jag85
jejasin
JIC X
Joe_Arpaio
King Pazuzu
Knave
kts123
Legends Kuja
letsduthisnow02
LuigisBro
lydiaquayle
Malefic_Mewtwo
ManhattanBeach
Masta Crouton
MattVSin
MegatokyoEd
mizukage2
mudelledge
mystic belmont
NAAAsianPeople
Nirvna9
Nitro378
NoName999
OldFrenchDragon
OrangeClockwork
papayapanda
paulo_yamato
peach freak
PentagonPapers
Psycho Lu Bu
rabbi_baby
Rad_Dudesman
Ramsfan19
RickMoranis
RodrigoErwin
RogerTritonHOPE
RRtexasranger13
RufusNKenRSTier
Sativa_Rose
sawol
SB_1070
Seri_ouS
SiGpsoaartktsie
Silencer S
SkyrimQuotes
Smash_thr_NSA
-SocksForWok-
--SocksforWok--
Sparksfanboy
SPMcGuilicutty
squareandrare
SSj4Wingzero
StarDestroyer
Starks
StormcloakSaci
SuperInfinity45
TaiIs82
telocaster
teltec
Terra Ghaleon
The_Politics
thecrowbar
TheDarkShepard
TheRealJiraiya
TheRunner PD
theSMITHS
Triad
Trips_93
untrustful
VoxSaci
wally
WhiskeyDisk
WhydyoubanOrion
woebegotten
wolf_blitzer85
Yawn_Master2
yevgraf
Yim_Lau_Wong
Yo_D_oY
YoloSwaggins
YouAreCrumbs
yzman
Zora_Prince
ZoraPrincess

Total topics and messages in violation: 620