# I Accuse Muad'Dib of message board plagarism
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [July 19, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813 "2004-07-19T14:02:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/1 "2004-07-19T14:02:34Z")
The following three threads, started by Muad’Dib, are directly copied, word for word, from the SomethingAwful message boards:
> **[Why does it feel so good to feel so bad for yourself?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267134)**
>
> Why is it? You know what I mean, that odd, yet powerful, sense of satisfaction that comes from angst. We make fun of it all of the time (OMG GOTH EMO QUERR LOL) but damned if I understand it. It seems to defy logic, that a person would find...
> **[Interesting ways to kill yourself.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266129)**
>
> Say, for whatever reason, you have decided that it is time to die. What would be your ideal way to do it? Forget any crap about resources or money, you want to die and you wanna may it cool, interesting or memorable what would you do? I was watching...
> **[Most disturbing flash I have ever seen.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267015)**
>
> http://www.fat-pie.com/salad.htm http://www.fat-pie.com/salad2.htm Watch them in order. I have never heard a better use of sound in a flash before.
If the Muad’Dib on this forum happens to be the same person as the SA poster, then my complaint can be disregarded (although personally I would still consider it on-par with newgroup cross posting). However, if they are not the same person, I feel an explanation is in order.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/2 "2004-07-19T14:05:24Z")
Links to the SA threads, please? Preferably per e-mail, as you are no doubt familiar with our adversity towards potential board wars.
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### Author:  [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/3 "2004-07-19T14:58:18Z")
Board wars aside (never been involved in one here) does anyone really care if Muad’Dib saw a good question/topic on another board and copied it here? You may think it below you but does it deserve a pitting?
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### Author:  [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/4 "2004-07-19T15:03:48Z")
> [@Ponster](#):
>
> Board wars aside (never been involved in one here) does anyone really care if Muad’Dib saw a good question/topic on another board and copied it here? You may think it below you but does it deserve a pitting?
As a matter of fact, yes. Plagiarism is not allowed. If he saw a topic he thought interesting, he should have restated it before posting it. If the Something Awful boards content is like the SDMB content, it belongs to the owner of the board and is therefore theft.
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### Author:  [@P\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P_T)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/5 "2004-07-19T15:17:20Z")
Well shit, guess I’m guilty of it too. I’ve seen a couple threads at other places that I thought “Hey, I wonder what the Dopers would think about this?” or “I wonder what \_\_\_\_ would have to say about that?” Really didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I guess now I know.
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### Author:  [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/6 "2004-07-19T15:23:05Z")
> [@P\_T\_](#):
>
> Well shit, guess I’m guilty of it too. I’ve seen a couple threads at other places that I thought “Hey, I wonder what the Dopers would think about this?” or “I wonder what \_\_\_\_ would have to say about that?” Really didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I guess now I know.
If you say it in your own words, it _is_ no big deal. Heck, under the standards you suggest, every history book ever written is a work of plagarism.
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### Author:  [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/7 "2004-07-19T15:23:40Z")
Muad’Dib has stated before that he posts at SomethingAwful - [linkydink](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5078493&highlight=SomethingAwful#post5078493)
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### Author:  [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/8 "2004-07-19T15:47:48Z")
I remember when I got pitted for this exact thing. I, too, have seen threads on SA that I thought it would be interesting to get the Dope’s perspective on.
Also, I post on SA, and I occasionally have two threads on the same subject going on both places.
Certainly not worth a pitting for.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/9 "2004-07-19T15:53:53Z")
If **Maud** copied someone else’s words and posted them here as his own, it’s worth more than a Pitting, it’s worth a Banning.
It seems that what really happened is that he posted his own work in two different places. There isn’t a thing wrong with that. Starting this thread without doing a little bit of research and emailing first was ill advised.
Haj
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### Author:  [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/10 "2004-07-19T16:15:54Z")
I’ve posted identical, or nearly so, thread-starters (like [How To Acquire Eight Cats](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=233989)) here and on Fathom, since the membership, while overlapping, isn’t identical. They’ve all been MPSIMS-type threads, and have wandered in somewhat different directions given the different set of people responding. I don’t see anything wrong with that. If in fact that is in violation of SDMB mores, I apologize and won’t do so again. But, as **hajario** pointed out, if its the OP’s own words, I can’t see the harm.
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### Author:  [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/11 "2004-07-19T16:19:13Z")
I stated in my OP that if they are his own words its not a problem. The whole point is that I’d like to find out.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/12 "2004-07-19T16:26:46Z")
> [@hajario](#):
>
> Starting this thread without doing a little bit of research and emailing first was ill advised.
I was going to post just to make this point. Curse you all for being quicker!
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/13 "2004-07-19T16:27:15Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#):
>
> I stated in my OP that if they are his own words its not a problem. The whole point is that I’d like to find out.
Then perhaps a Pit thread accusing someone of plagarism isn’t the best way of accomplishing this goal.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/14 "2004-07-19T16:31:48Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#):
>
> I stated in my OP that if they are his own words its not a problem. The whole point is that I’d like to find out.
Then, you should have e-mailed a mod directly.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/15 "2004-07-19T16:39:03Z")
While we’re on this subject, I noted with a start a certain similarity between a headline in my copy of yesterday’s Sunday Times lying on my coffee table:
**White trash, the only people left to insult**
and this thread:
[White Trash, the only people left to insult](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267075)
Should we call it inspiration, perhaps, not plagiarism?
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### Author:  [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/16 "2004-07-19T16:53:04Z")
Trigonal Planar, Kleebner on SA is Maud’Dib here. It’s not plagiarism, just cross posting.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/17 "2004-07-19T16:57:38Z")
I strongly suggest the OP ask for this thread to be closed. As others have stated, this is the sort of thing email is for.
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### Author:  [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/18 "2004-07-19T17:07:51Z")
Can someone please give me a link to the boards rules which outlaw this ?
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### Author:  [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/19 "2004-07-19T17:10:16Z")
**Muad’Dib’s** email addy in his/her profile is [kleebner@attbi.com](mailto:kleebner@attbi.com).
Where these threads started by kleebner on the SA forums?
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-accuse-muaddib-of-message-board-plagarism/255813/20 "2004-07-19T17:29:28Z")
> [@Ponster](#):
>
> Can someone please give me a link to the boards rules which outlaw this ?
If the posting elsewhere precedes the posting here, and the poster here had no connection with the original author, it’s reasonable to assume that the original posting is under copyright. (I believe this is the assumption that the OP of this thread was operating under)
From the [registration agreement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247049):
> [@](#):
>
> You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the operator of the SDMB, except as permitted by the “fair use” provisions of the U.S. copyright laws (in general this means brief excerpts only).
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