Topic: My appeal on Mpamaegbu (Read 504 times)

Thanks @hilariousandco for your understanding towards this case, because at least average member of this noble institution will leaarn a lesson via Plagiarism weather by intensional or unintentional, at this moment MPG will take absolutely correction via his post, so congratulations to MPG and also my regards to hilariousandco.

Mate, your request has been accepted and the ban has been cancelled. I respect your decision to support a user who made an unintentional mistake that led to a ban and I believe you do because you see the positive side of his contribution to the forum so far compared to his past mistake.


To Mpamaegbu, congratulations to you. I firmly believe that the ban has been hurting you as well as surprising you for some time. But it's all over and you just have to thank the people who supported you by not repeating the same mistake in the future. Now start your day with filled water filling your gills again.

It's hard to say. The user sometimes has to prove why he should be unbanned, how he is a positive member of the forum, and what the community would lose if he is no longer here. It obviously helps if other members show support for that individual.

My answers for your questions below are not related to this case, but how it is in general.

You could get banned for just one instance of plagiarism. But usually there are more unless a mistake was made as was the case with Mpamaegbu.
 
If the member is in a signature campaign at the moment the post was plagiarized, the punishments tend to be more severe. It's either a permanent ban or a 1-2 year signature ban.

If you lock your own thread, you can open it again, post in it, or edit your posts. If the mods lock your thread, you can't open it yourself or edit existing posts.

Accused or not, you can always edit any of your posts or delete them. But usually if a copy-pasted post is discovered and reported, mods will delete it and it can already be to late for you.

That's the most important factor to determine whether he will be pardoned or not. That and the share amount of plagiarized posts in question.

Some users can be unbanned the same day. But there have also been cases where users have waited a year or two for a second chance.

The more posts you plagiarize the harder it will be for you to not get banned. 

The post in question gets deleted and no other actions are taken. Admins also issue 1 and 2-year signature bans.

Honestly it would be. I have been like a fish out of water since this incidence happened. Here is about the only forum I visit to ease stress and learn. I already miss it. I wish this never happened and @airfinex had brought my attention to it via pm, knowing that we as humans are gullible and prone to silly slips. I take everyone here as family and will always extend a hand of fellowship to airfinex regardless of that which happened. I ain't going to see them as bad. I still regard them as a friend, perhaps he misunderstood me. May be one day he will get to understand me better.

Edited:

This is great. I'm super excited and in a state of glee! Thanks so much Hilariousandco! Thanks too to all who stood by me. May your joy never be cut short. And to you @airfinex, a super cyber hug! I believe we shall become closer than ever and may be one day share a glass of 🍺. You opened my eyes to what eluded me. Can I call you buddy, already? No hard feelings.

I unbanned it. That post alone probably shouldn't be a cause for a ban, especially when you take into consideration how long ago it was and his contributions here since.


I didn't ban him and wouldn't have done just for that one instance.

Same here like the rest, I'm pretty sure those within his local community could vouch for his contributions and a second chance would be a turning point for him.

Greetings @hilariousandco I believe you must have handled this issue in regards to the user @Mpamaegbu getting banned for plagiarism that he must not have done intentionally. If I'm not familiar with the users posting pattern I won't be here airing my support to his appeal. First this user is found of usually referencing the sources to any external information he posted on the forum.

As I have previously said in other related threads, a quick glance at the users posting history and you see different post been reference when the article isn't his, this can be noticed both before and after the thread causing this issue. The user has also been a positive users on the forum. As you can see he isn't a spammer and one of the most active users in our local thread (hopefully it becomes a board soon).

I join others to appeal for a lesser punishment for this mistakes of his, I believe this has to be his only mistakes in regards to not referencing the source of his articles. The intentions behind the article causing his ban wasn't driven by the reward that comes from signature campaign as I'm pretty sure he was just trying to pass an information he felt was relevant and when he got caution of similar content been posted already, he immediately acknowledge that and which probably brought about the locking of the thread with him forgetting to reference the source. This shouldn't be an excuse though but if this was to be his only crime then kindly temper justice with mercy.

1. I believe this is the first time.
2. No, he does not even claim authorship to the thread or post used.
3. Yes, I believe. Since the post was made before the thread was locked.
4. That I don't know
5. Yes, I have seen the name many times on different threads making good contributions.
6. Don't know
7. There should be but according to what high-ranked member noted the user in question has to provide some of his good activities to the forum.
8. Yes, temporary ban or a warning I guess.
9. I think what you need to do is make a thread about it some that mods and the community will hear your side of the story and advise you on what to do next time to prevent the accident.
10. Same here.

Mine is just a simple suggestion, basing on the past successful ban appeals I have seen. You should equally focus on stating your net positive contribution to the forum in the OP. This could help you have the mods at least reduce the ban from permanent to a signature ban or something like that.

I want to know, if appeals on plagiarism are made, do users opinions on the matter actually count or we are just witnesses to see how the affected will be able to convince the admin(s) that banned him.

If users opinions count, I want to submit or ask the following as some bases for judgement.

1. Was the user accused of any other plagiarism save the one in OP?
2. Was the intention behind the plagiarism to pass the content as his or to make money?
3. If mods or self locks a thread, can the thread creator edit the contents of the thread even when  it's locked?
4. If someone is accused of plagiarism in a particular post, does the person have the right to edit the post(add citation)under accusation?
5. Has the user contributed meaningful to the forum over the time?
6. Are some plagiarism cases given accelerated attention than others?
7. Is there some considerations in treating a perpetual plagarist and a one time plagarist?
8. Can any other punishment other than permanent ban be given a one time apologetic plagarist?
9. In one of my topics - Unintentional plagiarism . I argued that there is nothing like Unintentional plagiarism, but I am forced to contradict myself, this particular case seems unintentional.
10. I wish you success and urge the judges to reconsider if possible.
Thanks all.

I think this issue will be ironed out amicably because it's not good to lost account of a reputable member of the community irrespective of it's slight mistake, we do all know that no one is island of knowledge and no body is exempted of mistake, MPG has made a mistake by not adding a source or a link, and when looking at it via his explanation initially via loyceV plagiarism post, he made a mentioned that the topic was locked when they found out that the topic is irrelevant and their was no means for he to edit and add the source, i think with such point of MPG we have to read meaning to his request and most especially forum mods and give him privilege for second chance at least temporary ban..this is my own point of view as a forum mate.

When I saw the plagiarism allegation yesterday, I had to go through the thread. It is actually obvious that was a mistake if we read Mpamaegbu's last post on the thread. He could have included the link but most likely he forgot but yet did not claim the authorship of the post content.

https://ninjastic.space/topic/3158767 (archived)

I think this should make the post not to be considered as plagiarism (even though it is plagiarism) and an evidence that he did forgot to add the link.


I just want to express what I have in mind about this. theymos once commented in the past that plagiarism is handled case by case, newbies that have nothing but the intention to spam and plagiarize should not be pardoned but be permanently banned, but for someone that has been on this forum for years improving his post quality, I do not think such person should be permanently banned if this is handled case by case (although I could be wrong), because if Mpamaegbu open another account, he can only post on meta board while restricted to post on any other board of the forum, permanent ban on account like this in which it is obviously clear on the thread that he is not claiming to be the author of the post content and he locked the thread also when metenjean posted that such thread is already existing before his post. The reporter should have just sent him personal message to include the link because he is contributing quality posts on this forum and have no intention to plagiarize or spam. I do not know why some members can not just PM such user to include the link but rather report when it is completely obvious it could be a mistake (well mistake should not be an excuse for plagiarized content).

But, if plagiarism is handled case by case, I do not think Mpamaegbu supposed to be permanently banned. In my opinion, it will nice if Mpamaegbu is pardoned by revoking the ban. Admin and moderators, please read through the thread and take the right decision.

I support this view. mostly because he is an active member, and obviously has a certain reputation with some members.
although I personally don't like such posts where 95% of the content inside is copied from somewhere, with a brief comment. even when it has a link to the source.

Even though user @airfinex who exposes this plagiarism case, there are some additional negatives for the user Mpamaegbu. Maybe he could bring it out right here and possibly end this drama.

I've already voiced my opinion on this in two other threads, but this is probably the most important one, so I'll reiterate:  I happen to think Mpamaegbu just goofed on not including a citation for the text he used from Steemit, and whether the thread was open for one hour or one year makes no difference--he just forgot to add it.  Obviously he realizes how serious of an error this was, and I think if there are no other examples of plagiarism found (assuming anyone is looking for them) in his post history, he should be given a slap on the wrist for this, not a permanent ban.  Not even a signature ban.

Normally I'd be much harsher with members and probably wouldn't believe their story if they said they forgot to add a source for outside content.  However, I've become kind of familiar with Mpamaegbu and his love of the forum, and I really don't think he was trying to get away with plagiarism, hoping no one would notice.  He's been around Meta long enough to know how serious plagiarism is on bitcointalk (and that members are constantly on the lookout for it), and given how important his account is to him it doesn't seem rational that he'd take that risk.

I vote for giving him a break on this, with the understanding that another offense will result in a permaban with no chance of appeal.

I can't say I've don much digging on this user but, from what have been provided so far on the LoyceV's report plagiarism thread, this might seem to be his only case though, Airfinex argues to have more compromising evidence
for which, I would have suggested he provides them and the case be treated as a whole and not in batches which would be exhausting.

Given the benefit of the doubt, I still want to believe its the only one and go with the excuse of it being a honest mistake. To some extent I see him to have meant well, discovering a similar thread and went ahead to lock his thread
It was a right step and a hasty move that could erase the possibility of an error that needs correcting on a thread from a user.

Givien the fact that, he categorically stated that, a smuggled snippet content was to be stated below.
As an intentional disclaimer of owner ship on projection and should be considered.

Mpamaegbu is an active forum contributor and very active too in the Nigerian locale. Statistics recently provided in this thread https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/charts-monthly-overview-of-nigeria-local-board-monthly-merit-reward-5357434 by Igehhh and those provided by Tranthidung here https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.57862544, goes the far length to express how active his been lately and have helped a lot of Nigerians amongst other nationals on the forum I believe, to have a forward with their bitcointalk journey.

Opinions of everyone I highly respect, the forum rules and rulings too but, I would plead mercy for this fellow as, I've come to acknowledge him as a reputable and positive forum contributor. If no further complication from this fellow, treating an over 2years slipped mistake with some mercy and a Temporal ban if there is a need at all looking at the fact that, he didn't completely credit the post in question to himself would be something.

Shall it obvious that plagiarism has it penalty but considering the fact that the account of MPG don't have any further plagiarised work i think he should be considered a temporary ban instead of permanent ban and after sometime or period of it's mistake punishment he can as well join a signature campaign, because looking at his account per say he really contribute immensely to the community.

You should point out this:

Is this the only time you have plagiarized anything? Were you participating in a signature campaign when you posted that thread?

The thread in question was open for at least an hour, so I am not sure how credible the argument that "you were rushing" to lock the thread is.

I would support a temp ban + signature ban if you have no other instances of plagiarism. If you were not participating in a signature campaign at the time, I would argue for additional leniency. This is based on your merit history (which implies your contributions to the forum).

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Edit:
It has been brought to my attention that Mpamaegbu wrote the following in his alledged plagiarized post:
IMO, the above shows the OP did not intend to plagiarize when he made his post, despite how much I oppose the type of behavior I think he was engaging in.

It remains my belief that the post in question was a low-value post. I don't believe a single instance of a low-value post has resulted in any kind of substantial ban. At most, I would advocate for a 3 day ban, and no signature ban. This is assuming there are no additional instances of plagiarism in his post history.

I'm the user whose main account Mpamaegbu got banned over allegation of plagiarism.

I have been very devastated in respect to what happened on the forum concerning the thread in question – https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.32651653 (it has been deleted by mod now). It was a shock to me when my attention was drawn to it that I didn't reference the post which I never intended to pass off as mine. The post was made in such a way to provide a link at the end but it slipped me after the thread was hurriedly locked up almost immediately it was started as I didn't want it to be a duplicate post after my attention was drawn to one created an hour before mine. I never went back to the thread until this happened. Honestly, there was nothing I intended to profit by not referencing it. It was a honest slip but sadly it has now cast a shadow on my person.

There are instances of posts I made with references littered before and after this said "problematic" post. The shocking thing to me was that the two short threads I made which sandwiched this post in question were all referenced. They were even short seemingly obscured articles https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.33217747 (that's the thread on top) and
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.31335368 (the one immediately below it) yet I referenced them let alone a lengthy post from a  Steemit site which I know is a popular crypto forum. I'm not a plagiarist or spammer. I do put in my best to the best of my perspicacity to posts I make.

I wouldn't intentionally leave out referencing posts that weren't mine. There's nothing I stand to gain doing that. I take the blame for that slip and make a promise I will be more thorough on things like that going forward.

All I ask for is a second chance and that will also enable me become a better focused user than I am so I can continue to contribute my quota to the growth of this forum.

I have come to grow on this forum that it has become almost a second home to me and I don't see any reason I should intentionally break its rules and regulations.

I do apologize for that slip and hope that the forum will find a place to grant me a second chance.