Dear Whyvillians,
It is with a heavy heart that I come to you with news that for the first time I had to suspend a citizen from the Times indefinitely for plagiarism. It was really hard to do, but based on the Times' Plagiarism Policy (outlined in article ID 7460), it had to be done. This citizen will never be allowed to write for the Times again. . . ever.
We have also flagged all of this person's other user names based on the email address that was provided, and none of them will ever be allowed to write for the Times as well. I cannot reveal the identity of this user to protect his/her privacy. But I will tell you that he/she stole other Whyvillians' work, as well as from authors on the Internet. The citizen was caught, warned multiple times for his/her actions, but continued to plagiarize . . . so now he/she is paying the price.
The only reason I am telling you this is because I want you all to know that plagiarism in the Times is not tolerated. If you plagiarize, you will get caught, and you will be punished.
I am also asking for your help, Whyville. I do the best I can to catch these acts of plagiarism before they are published, but often times they get through. That's where you come in. As many of you have been doing, if you see plagiarized work, please immediately report it to me (email me at times@whyville.net). Please also provide proof of the plagiarism (for example, the URL to the website where you found it).
I would also like to recommend again to all of you to not publish you work on public forums where others can steal it and pass it off as their own. If you need help on an article, please show it to your parents, teachers, friends, or someone you can trust for their advice. The Internet makes it really easy for plagiarism these days, and if we are vigilant with what we post and where, it makes it harder for people to do. If you have posted an article somewhere else, and then send it to the Times as well, please send me the URL of where it is posted so I know you are not plagiarizing.
Again, I am very sad to punish this person in this manner, but that is what our policy says. If you need a refresher, here it is:
1st time: You will be suspended from the Times for 2 weeks.
2nd time: You will be suspended from the Times for a month and stripped of any titles (such as Times Writer, Columnist, etc.).
3rd time: You will be permanently suspended from the Times (you will never be allowed to write for the Times again).
Here's hoping this is the first and last time I will have to suspend someone indefinitely from the Times.
Yours in Whyville,
Times Editor
