RIEAS editorial pilfered, appears verbatim in Greek newspaper
On September 13, 2009, a weekly Greek newspaper carried a verbatim translation of one of our lead editorials that was published on August 23 under the title “Invisible 2”. The purported “author” of this “revelation” article was a person the newspaper identified as a former ambassador of Cyprus to Washington.
We have no way of knowing whether the weekly newspaper knew that it was publishing our pilfered editorial. Since we are essentially old fashioned, we also dare say we hesitate to believe a former ambassador would stoop so low. We have already alerted the weekly Greek Newspaper senior editor. We hope he will act accordingly, find out exactly what happened, and publicly set the record straight.
We understand that it is increasingly difficult for any editorial staff to be able to catch cases as the above in the age of the Internet. Nowadays, depending exclusively on the honesty of authors is a weak defense. This present pitiful case of plagiarizing tells a lot about both the “writer” of the article, whoever he might be, and the cast-iron principles of our times.
We are glad to see our opinions re-published and re-distributed by others who find that our commentaries present thoughts worth wider dissemination. Our material is copyrighted, but open to re-publication provided a clear and prominent citation of the source is present. This is a basic courtesy that costs nothing.