...No 4 should be those who copy and spin texts... d I making a half decent post, to steal and customize contents of others.
Those could still fall into the first category because not only do they do it and dont care about the consequences but they also make an extra effort to conceal the plagiarised content.
Please do not plagiarise/copy and paste other's content without proper attribution would help a lot.
That is a good point although I would not use the word
plagiarise if we are trying to address those who dont understand its meaning. Just
copy and paste and highlight what it is and that you
WILL be banned if you do it. It should get the attention of some new users I think. Those who dont care are a lost cause anyway. It should be highlighted in such a way that they know that there is no chance to get away with it so dont try it.
...They usually take into consideration how old the post happens to be, if it can be contributed to an error, and whether it appears to be financially motivated.
This is interesting. What if a user is found copy/pasting at the beginning when he just registered his account and then as the time progressed his posting quality became better and better? Those people could be given a 2nd chance if they have contributed to the forum in a significant way.
You are educated and possess enough professionalism and culture to know what goes and what doesn't, unfortunately some people are not. But if they want to better themselves lets give them a push in that direction. Making a warning message about copy/pasting is everything the board needs to do, if they continue to ignore it, the results are their own fault.
Please do not copy other peoples words, you can get permenantly banned or something similar.
Not can.
Will. If they understand the difference between 'will' and 'can' they might see that there is a possibility to get away with it. They shouldn't think they can get away with it.
...we have rules sticked into META section most of the people unaware of this section at all.
Yes, someone who is here for the first time will not know where and what Meta is and why the rules would be posted there.