IMO, permabans for plagiarism should stand.  Copy/pasting is usually a clear case of wrongdoing and something everyone should know not to do.  If you make the consequence for that a temporary ban, people will just keep doing it until they get caught--which they're basically doing anyway.  Plagiarism isn't a mistake people are making.  In fact, if you're getting permabanned here, it's usually a certainty that the person isn't making a mistake at all.  They know exactly what they're doing and they know it's wrong.

Oh, please.  You can't deal with the level of idiocy bitcointalk is seeing with mercy or kindness.  Such sentiments will only give incentive for plagiarists and others to keep breaking the rules and making the forum worse than it already is.