It goes back to my question about the purpose of these forums. What is the point of recreating information that already exists, rather than just linking to it?
In relation to these two pages (tang and tank size, and difficult species) I knew the content of these posts were taken directly from posts on ReefCentral. There were two issues I had with it.
Firstly, why recreate the content in the first place? Why not just create links to the ReefCentral pages, with a little introduction line saying "I hope you find this information helpful". If the purpose of the forum is to share knowledge, then why not just send people to where the original content is, rather than rewriting it and posting it as if it was your own work. When I asked a moderator why not just link to the original source, I was told "not everyone likes to use reefcentral".
The second thing that really angered me was, there was no mention in either of the posts about the original source of the information and there was no credit given to the original authors. There is now, but only after I had to point it out in rather blunt terms how out of order it was after the same moderator posted that he did not see an issue with what had been done.
I have no problem with people trying to make information widely known, but rewriting content then posting it without acknowledging the original source is just dishonest.
By the way, I have made more than two posts, but the same moderator decided my posts were "spam" and so removed them from view.
Hi Jimmy Anderson,
I completely understand where you are coming from. The point I am trying to get across to you is, is that forum members are not staff. They are users who come here to converse with other members. We try and police the forums as much as we can, but you must understand that a members actions does not represent the entire community, nor the forum owners.
I agree that the post was very similar to the post that you have linked to, and quite clearly he used it as a reference. However, the original author does not state that he does not wish for the content to be distributed or cited. Legally, there has been no wrong doing. Had the author really felt that he did not want it posted elsewhere he could have attached a "You may NOT distribute this article, without written permission from the author" as a footer. I am not saying copying is right, I am just saying that the user is not breaking the law. However, a reference to the original article would not have gone astray. Though, the user is just trying to help and silly mistakes do happen.
If you feel so bad about recreating content, and you wish to bring it to our attention that is fine. But please use the "report" button and I will personally get back to you. There is no point in hijacking someones thread. Furthermore, if you feel so strongly about it, please tell the author of the article to contact me.
As far as "a link to the ReefCentral thread would have done the same thing (pointless repetition)", I agree with you. Therefore I think that in order to make your point on these forums, you should go to every single website on the Internet, and any link that you find pointing to another site you should bring it to the Webmasters attention that they are wasting their time by pointlessly repeating information found on the Internet. I suggest starting with Wikipedia as the entire site is based on citing references.
If you would like any further help please feel free to contact me. You can do this by clicking my username and then clicking the "Start Conversation" link in the AJAX popup window. Alternativly, please feel free to start a thread in the support section of our forums. This way it helps keep useful information in one spot, and other information in another.
Thanks.
