Malaysian Blogger Sued

Jim Edwards , Jeff Ooi, NSTP, Malaysian Blogger sued,

Original, but controversial

One of the worst fears of any blogger is to be sued for the contents of one's writings. In this case 2 Malaysian bloggers, Jeff OOi and RockyBru, have been served defamation papers for, amongst others, blowing the whistle about an article which could be plagiarised. To read more about the defamation suits click NSTP gets injunction to remove blog postings and Defamation suit to test the limits of freedom of speech in cyberspace

I don't intend to add any comments that's not already said by many other people, online or offline, as the case which will be heard in the Malaysian courts in a few days time. We will let the lawyers present their clients' case.

The reason I am writing a post of it is to pen my thoughts on what I got out from the Jan 17, 2007 webinar "Next generation Mini sites secrets" where Jim Edwards, the mini-sites guru said, amongst others, blogs should be "original, but controversial". In his context, Jim Edwards mentioned that blogs can be used to :
1. build anticipation when launching a new product
2. write a review about an affiliate's products
3. get reciprocal links to a newsletter/site

He suggests writing some controversial contents (as compared to just facts) so that readers will be attracted to continue reading your post, and send more traffic your way.

I guess the claimant NSTP considered the posts made by the 2 bloggers as more than controversial because it may have affected their business in a way.

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Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Today our local paper carried a story about plagiarism, especially amongst students. The title of the story "Thou Shalt Not Copy" carries serious connotations.

I guess it's not only students who should make proper references and give proper acknowledgement to the originator of the information, ideas, words, or opinions; bloggers and website owners should also take heed to cite the source of their information.

With the internet becoming so prevalent nowadays, it's so easy to 'cut and paste' information and pass as your own. Even paraphrasing is considered plagiarism

Wikipedia has a practical reference on Unintentional Plagiarism on the Internet

Very well known works are often used without citation or attribution, but this does not mean that the practice is either permissable or desirable. Some works are very well known in one country but little known in other countries. Authors may quote or adapt works which do not need attribution in their country. Authors may then put such unoriginal work onto the Internet without realizing the need for attribution.

Another thing I learnt today, there are software to check for plagiarism:

AntiPlagiarist - free software

AntiCutAndPaste - check for source code plagiarism

TurnItIn - used by colleges

Also if you are interested in plagiarism software visit The Plagiarism Resource Site to know more about their software WcopyFind

I must remember to give credit where its due.

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