Santosh Helekar wrote
I am surprised that an educated man is confused about the difference between plagiarism and research. How alarming is it that a person who has published some writings of his own thinks that it is as normal to plagiarize as it is to engage in research?
Show no surprise. While some forms of plagiarism are easy to define, others are harder. Indeed I'd be surprised if an "educated man" is not confused. Example of easy to define: somebody comes up with a research paper on hot topic, PXY. You take it, maybe change a few things here and there, and then publish it as your own. Plagiarism. Bad. Cannot be condoned. Example of hard to define: you and your buddy are both doing research at the UofX and are working on hot topic PXY with your advisor which is still in its initial stages. After your studies you go different ways, both continue working independently on PXY for several years. Many ideas are borrowed from your initial research, many are changed. Is that plagiarism? Why or why not? Any "educated man" can see that there are factors that can easily make this matter even more murky, much to the joy of thousands of lawyers who make a living specializing in this subject. Add to this that IPR and copyright enforcement is unfortunately most successfully used as a tool by big companies to stifle their competitors with less money, even when the IPR or copyright should not belong to them in the first place. "Educated men" of today confused about plagiarism are in good company. The esteemed Sir Isaac Newton was accused of the same after he published the Principia, and there is much controversy over who developed Calculus. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_v._Leibniz_calculus_controversy for more on this. In every field, from scientific research to entertainment to culinary arts, everybody borrows ideas from everybody. It is wholesome and contributes to the greater good of mankind. I leave you with this message from AskANinja.com: http://www.askaninja.com/news/2006/05/11/ask-a-ninja-special-delivery-4-net-neutrality Allwyn.
