There is literally nothing in common between what Bosco and Venantius have written, and what Gilbert has written in two posts now. These authors are not on the same planet, leave alone being on the same wavelength. The problem is so simple, and yet so important, that it is addressed in elementary school nowadays in most parts of the world. I know this from my own experience as a parent.
The question we are faced with is: It it ethical and legal to copy and paste material verbatim from the internet without using quotation marks, and without providing a link to the website from where it is taken? The answer is clearly no. There is no excuse to misrepresenting other people's writings as one's own, even if done unintentionally. One cannot afford to be so intellectually lazy. There is absolutely no downside to providing proper links and attributions to quoted text. It is the person who is not doing so that is abusing his privilege, not the other way round. Cheers, Santosh P.S. - Since some spurious confusion regarding cancer has been injected below, here is its clear technical definition from the U.S. National Cancer Institute: QUOTE cancer (KAN-ser) A term for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade nearby tissues. Cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. There are several main types of cancer. Carcinoma is a cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs. Sarcoma is a cancer that begins in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue. Leukemia is a cancer that starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow, and causes large numbers of abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the blood. Lymphoma and multiple myeloma are cancers that begin in the cells of the immune system. Central nervous system cancers are cancers that begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. Also called malignancy. UNQUOTE Please see: http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/?CdrID=45333 --- On Sat, 7/31/10, Gilbert Lawrence <gilbert2...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Hi Bosco and Venatius, > > Thanks for your response. We are all on the same > wavelength. "Great Minds Think > Alike" > > As we and others can see, we are coming from similar and > yet subtly different > perspectives. My post was to encourage Goans to write on > goanet; and for us > to make it easy for them to do so. This involves not > intimidating them or > creating any "glass barriers." Writing something, first > involves 'READING and > DIGESTING the subject at hand'. Then there is courage to > and developing the art > of writing. So clearly veteran writers and goanetters > should give some slack to > novice writers and members. > > The prerequisites of "reading and digesting the subject at > hand" contradicts > regurgitating and plagiarizing what someone else has > already done. Certainly > web-links, sources and references should be provided when > appropriate. Yet on > goanet and elsewhere, this has taken an abuse of its own. > Tech-savvy and > techno-equipped individuals are posting links on topics > where, they have "NOT > READ and DIGESTED the subject at hand." So now we have > 'jack of all trades' > masquerading within hours as "masters of all trades." > > Sometimes the above is done inadvertently (which is > excusable) and sometimes it > is done repeatedly and blatantly (leading to repeated > endless arguments). Lets > look at the endless posts about "Cancer is incurable". If > either of the two > opponents had "read and digested" the reams of web-links > they posted, the first > question they would ask: "For which situation (type of > cancer and part of the > world) does this statement apply?" And this is not even > getting into > technicalities like what is the definition of cure in > cancer, etc.. > * * * Encounter hints (and more) of the Goan life in Zanzibar, Poona, Mombasa, Basra, Dubai, and even Nuvem and Colva, Sanvordem and colonial Goa. Learn of experiences that shaped Goans worldwide. Selma Carvalho's *Into the Diaspora Wilderness* now available at Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph +91-9822488564] Ask a friend to buy it, before it gets sold out. Price (in Goa only) Rs 295. http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ * * *
