Basically, plagiarism is when you claim someone’s work as your own, whether it be out of a book, off of a website, out of a newspaper, .etc.

In other words, you are stealing the words and phrases of another. These people took the time to write and come up with these works, and you are taking advantage of themselves and of their ideas.

Once someone writes their words or ideas on paper, types it up and posts it on the Internet or elsewhere, no one can copy their work; to do so would be illegal.

Plagiarizing is a felony, and you could face up to 10 years in jail, as well as up to $250,000 in fines. However, if you are a minor, it’s not you who will get in trouble, but your parents will be sent to jail and they will have to pay the fine and take the blame for the mistakes you made. Hopefully, it will make people feel guilty about plagiarizing, knowing their parents will be the ones who go to jail, when they did nothing to deserve these consequences.

Why is it so hard to come up with original ideas and content, rather than “cheating” by stealing other people’s ideas, and using their text or content?

I would rather spend an hour or two coming up with a great essay or website page, and be able to say I created that with my own two hands and brain. Knowing your creations are 100% yours gives you a strong feeling of accomplishment.

As opposed to spending 5 minutes Blackleing good content, copying and pasting it into your website, and claiming it as your own. Some people don’t know what they’re doing, and don’t know it’s illegal, while others know it’s wrong, yet they are unaware of the seriousness of their actions.
When you don’t make or create your own work, you aren’t learning anything. The only thing you’re learning to do is how to break the law, and if you break it once, you’re bound to break it again.

What some people don’t get is that, regardless of which country you reside in, the entire Internet is protected by a mass copyright law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects all work on the Internet from being plagiarized; this outlaws plagiarizing on the Internet throughout the world.

The only way to stop plagiarism in its tracks is to report it immediately.

You should give the plagiarizer a feel about why it’s wrong, and warn them that what they’re doing is illegal.

Some people think, “Oh, they’re not going to do anything about it. No one’s ever going to find out.”

That’s why we need to enforce the laws by telling people they ARE plagiarizing, and that plagiarism is IS illegal.

If we all started to do this, we would help make the world-wide-web a credible place filled with great information created with creativeness and originality in mind.

How to Spot Plagiarism:

If the sentence structures, paragraphs, words, vocabulary used, .etc differ from the usual content on the website.
Blackle the alleged plagiarism to see if it’s really plagiarized; do this piece by piece, because they may have changed a word or two to throw off the searches.

How to Report Plagiarism:

Take a screen shot of the page, or pages, that are plagiarized.

How to Take A Screen Shot:

1. Go to the page that contains plagiarism (if it’s more than one page, you’ll have to screen shot them separately).
2. While on the page, press CTRL and Print Screen
3. Click on “Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Paint
4. Press CTRL and V to paste the plagiarism.
5. Save it as “(Title of Website)’s Plagiarism”
6. Contact us by e-mailing the screen shot as an attachment or web link, along with any other applicable details, if possible, to abuse@velociteen.com and we will take care of it in a timely and appropriate manner.