I'll respond here because my name was mentioned. First: this isn't the first topic about Ratimov, and I think I've said everything there is to say about it already. I think Ratimov can/should improve on his references, but ultimately it's not up to me. If the forum doesn't ban him for it, he seems to have found a loophole to easily make long posts that many people appreciate.
That being said, after several topics calling him out for plagiarism his large Merit earnings have dropped significantly:
I also don't think Ratimov deserves negative feedback for this, as it doesn't mean he can't be trusted for trading.
I do think he's setting a bad example though, and I think plagiarism rules could be improved. So if anything, you may want to focus your energy on adjusting the rules in a separate topic (in
Meta). You could use Ratimov as an example for your arguments, but don't make it about him.
Does DarkStar know he is paying for plagiarism
See:
I also don't like some of Ratimov's Sent feedback. It's retaliatory and goes against
what I consider correct use of the Trust system. I get that several people created an alt account to call him out on this, and this is actually
encouraged by theymos:
If you're hesitant to say something controversial because you don't want it to be associated with your name, please create an alt account and say it.
I always consider Trust inclusions and exclusions a bit of a "gliding scale": I usually don't (dis)agree with all ratings, but if the number gets too high, I might change my Trust list. I think I'm not alone in this, and Ratimov's DT-strength is
already starting to
decline a bit.