Recently our FSJ Spotlight Team has discovered that eWeek columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (show hard at work, right) has been plundering press releases and reprinting huge sections of them, verbatim, in stories under his byline. (Ironically these stories are then copyrighted by eWeek parent company Ziff-Davis, which means other hacks can’t copy them from eWeek. Outrageous!) The “Copygate” scandal ratcheted up a notch yesterday after Vaughan-Nichols published an indignant response to our investigation in which he admits to lifting press releases and putting his name on them but then says FSJ is a bastard for calling him on this — because, he says, all reporters do this.

But Katie insists that’s not the case. She says in all her years doing PR and communications, she’s never seen a case of a hack lifting entire chunks of press releases and publishing them verbatim under a byline.

Frankly we’re amazed that this renowned journalist, who is chairman of the Internet Press Guild, remains uninformed about this issue. In an effort to be helpful, our communications team has prepared some links which Steven J. Vaughan-Cut-and-Paste and his editors at eWeek might find useful.

1. Fred Brown, who is vice chairman of the Ethics Committee at the Society of Professional Journalists and helped draft that organization’s Code of Ethics, responded to our email inquiry seeking his opinion about reporters copying press releases into bylined articles.

Fred’s emailed response: “SPJ’s code of ethics advises journalists to ‘never plagiarize’ — it’s the only absolute in the code — but it doesn’t explicitly define what that means. I’d say it means using someone else’s work without giving the author credit. Copying from a press release, without putting that copied material in quotes and saying where it comes from, is, at the very least, lazy and sloppy — and for that reason unethical. But it falls somewhat short of the more egregious forms of plagiarism. As you say, I’m sure the people who produced the press releases are happy to have their carefully parsed words repeated verbatim.”

(Worth noting: The Internet Press Guild, where Steven J. Vaughan-Cut-and-Paste is chairman, claims it adheres to standards set by the Society of Professional Journalists. Ahem.)

2. Here’s an article from the American Press Institute titled “When does sloppy attribution become plagiarism?”

Money quote: “Substantial theft of whole passages of a press release is no different from substantial theft from another source. It doesn’t matter that the organization offered the press release for publication and welcomes your verbatim publication. The obligation to be original is an obligation to readers, not just sources. Consent of the source doesn’t override that obligation to readers. …Our credibility is precious and a sloppy journalist is hardly better than a crooked journalist.”

3. The Seattle Times provides this set of plagiarism guidelines in a Q&A format for its reporters. Money quote:

“Q. What about press releases? Can we lift information verbatim from a news release for background or boilerplate?
A. We discourage using verbatim language from news releases. Quotes from them should be attributed in the text, “…said in a news release,” or with similar language.”

Um, Ziff-Davis editors? Are you paying attention? Of course not. If you were, you’d have noticed this yourselves.

Well the hack of all hacks, eWeek’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka “King of the Freetards,” turns out to be the gift that keeps on giving. Our FSJ Spotlight Team has turned up even more examples of reverse engineered stories, and we’re only back to October. Good grief.

See this story about KDE which appeared with the byline of Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols on DesktopLinux.com, and this press release from the developers who make KDE.

Or compare this article about a KACE survey under the byline of Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols with this press release by a company called KACE. Complete sentences, lifted in whole.

Or compare this article about Red Hat published under the byline of Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols to this press release from Red Hat. Complete sentences lifted, word for word.

Or compare this story about an Everex computer under the byline of Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols and this story about the same computer but under the byline of Ben Hall on a website called The Green Lounge. Entire sentences, identical. Who knows which came first? To be sure, it may be that the other guy copied Vaughan-Nichols. Or maybe they both copied the same press release.

Or see this article about Ubuntu under a Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols byline, and this press release by Canonical. Whole sentences lifted.

Or compare this story about Novell’s new version of SuSE Linux which bears a Vaughan-Nichols byline and this press release from Novell. Entire sentences lifted, word for word.

Namaste, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols. I honor the place where the language of corporate press releases and the content of your articles become one. And as your wonderful online bio points out, it does appear that after all these years of writing about technology you just may have learned something along the way. Much love.

UPDATE: Readers, for a real howl, check out this piece where Steven J. Vaughan-Cut-and-Paste offers a little insight into how much he loves himself. Honestly, it’s priceless.

Earlier today we reported that eWeek columnist and renowned freetard Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (aka King of the Freetards) was copying material from press releases and shamelessly passing it off as his own. See that story here. Well, there’s more. Turns out this guy rips off more material than Microsoft. And that’s saying something. An FSJ Spotlight Team investigation has turned up other examples of shameless plundering by Vaughan-Nichols, who is also founder and editor of Linux-Watch and chairman of the Internet Press Guild, a journalism watchdog group that has in the past accused fellow hacks of unethical behavior. No word yet on what action if any Ziff-Davis intends to take here. Iulia and Natasha are digging through mountains of evidence and so far have turned up the following.

Example #1. Please compare this Vaughan-Nichols article about Red Hat and this Red Hat press release.

Press release:
These capabilities provide customers with a practical means of using their total compute capacity with maximum efficiency and flexibility, while improving the speed and availability of any application. Additionally, Red Hat and the University of Wisconsin have signed a strategic agreement to make Condor’s source code available under an OSI-approved license and jointly fund ongoing co-development at the University of Wisconsin.

Vaughan-Nichols article:
Red Hat claims that these capabilities provide customers with a practical means of using their total compute capacity with maximum efficiency and flexibility, while improving the speed and availability of any application. Additionally, Red Hat and the University of Wisconsin have signed a strategic agreement to make Condor’s source code available under several OSI-approved licenses and jointly fund ongoing co-development at the University of Wisconsin.

Example #2. Please compare this Vaughan-Nichols article about Eaton Corp. and this press release by Eaton Corp.

Eaton Corp. press release:
Compatible with Ubuntu releases from 6.06 to 7.10, the software will allow UPSintegration by default to assure communication, monitoring and graceful shutdown during prolonged power disturbances for the popular Linux-based operating system. The Personal Solution Pac (PSP) software is targeted at desktop and SOHOusers while the Network Shutdown Module (NSM) offers a range of advanced functionality for network installations and enterprise applications.

Vaughan-Nichols article:
This program is compatible with Ubuntu releases from 6.06 to 7.10. It enables Ubuntu systems to smoothly integrate with Easton UPS systems and assures communication, monitoring and graceful shutdown during prolonged power disturbances. The PSP (Personal Solution Pac) software is targeted at desktop and SOHO users while the NSM (Network Shutdown Module) offers a range of advanced functionality for network installations and enterprise applications.

Example #3. Please compare this article by Vaughan-Nichols about a CIO Insight poll with this article by CIO Insight announcing the results of the poll.

CIO Insight article:
This is the fifth year CIO Insight has polled IT executives on how well their major vendors deliver business value, reliability and quality.

Vaughan-Nichols article:
For the fifth year, CIO Insight polled IT executives on how well their major vendors deliver business value, reliability and quality.

Example #4. Please compare this Vaughan-Nichols article about Novell and this press release from Novell.

First sentence of Novell press release:
Novell today announced a new initiative to increase revenue and profitability for solution providers and consulting partners who specialize in selling Novell® technologies.

First paragraph of Vaughan-Nichols article:
Novell’s channel partners have not been happy lately. Novell knows that, and on Nov. 19, the Linux power announced a new initiative to increase revenue and profitability for solution providers and consulting partners that specialize in selling Novell technologies.

Next sentences from Novell press release:
Among other benefits, Novell will offer enhanced partner education, joint marketing opportunities, and free technical support for those partners demonstrating expertise in selling and supporting Novell software. Novell is also creating a new partner executive sales team which will be dedicated to, and compensated on, partner success. Working with Novell now gives partners even more compelling options for delivering IT value to their customers.

Next sentences from Vaughan-Nichols article:
Among other benefits, Novell will offer enhanced partner education, joint marketing opportunities and free technical support for those partners demonstrating expertise in selling and supporting Novell software. Novell is also creating a new partner executive sales team that will be dedicated to partner success. Working with Novell now gives partners even more compelling options for delivering IT value to their customers, the company said.

Example #5. Please compare this Vaughan-Nichols article about the GNU Affero license and this Free Software Foundation press release about that license.

FSF press release:
“The GNU GPL allows people to modify the software they receive, and share those modified versions with others, as long as they make source available to the recipients when they do so. However, a user can modify the software and run the modified version on a network server without releasing it. Since use of the server does not imply that people can download a copy of the program, this means the modifications may never be released. Many programmers choose to use the GNU GPL to cultivate community development; if many of the modifications developed by the programs’ users are never released, this can be discouraging for them. The GNU AGPL addresses their concerns. The FSF recommends that people consider using the GNU AGPL for any software which will commonly be run over a network.”

Vaughan-Nichols article:
“By itself, the GPLv3 allows people to modify the software they receive and share those modified versions with others, as long as they make the source code available to the recipients when they do so. However, a user can modify the software and run the modified version on a network server without releasing it. Since use of the server does not imply that people can download a copy of the program, this means the modifications may never be released. Many programmers choose to use the GPL to cultivate community development, but if many of the modifications developed by the programs users are never released, this defeats the community-building aspect of the GPL.

As the AGPL addresses these concerns, the FSF recommends that people consider using the GNU AGPL for any software which will commonly be run over a network.”

Well the freetards are back at it again, stealing material and disregarding copyrights. Check out this article from Linux-Watch about Novell delaying its earnings reports because the SEC is probing its accounting. The article carries the byline of renowned freetard hack Steven J. Vaughan Nichols (shown here with his life partner). But the article bears some eerie resemblances to this press release from Novell. Note the following bits of reverse engineering:

Novell press release:
Novell delivered a response letter to the SEC on Sept. 20, 2007. On Oct. 18, 2007, Novell received a second comment letter from the SEC indicating that the SEC had reviewed Novell’s response to the Aug. 7, 2007 letter. The second comment letter was limited to certain accounting matters. Novell responded to the SEC’s second comment letter on Nov. 7, 2007 and is awaiting a response.

Vaughan Nichols article:
Novell delivered a response letter to the SEC on Sept. 20, 2007. On Oct. 18, Novell received a second comment letter from the SEC indicating that the SEC had reviewed Novell’s response to the Aug. 7, 2007 letter. The second comment letter was limited to certain accounting matters. Novell responded to the SEC’s second comment letter on Nov. 7, 2007 and is still awaiting an SEC response.

Novell press release:
“We are confident of our accounting and are working diligently with the SEC to respond to their inquiries,” said Dana C. Russell, chief financial officer of Novell. “In an abundance of caution, we have chosen to postpone our earnings release. We look forward to completing our dialogue with the SEC.”

Vaughan Nichols article:
With these issues still in the balance, Novell has elected to not issue its fourth quarter and year-end reports. “We are confident of our accounting and are working diligently with the SEC to respond to their inquiries,” said Dana C. Russell, Novell’s chief financial officer. “In an abundance of caution, we have chosen to postpone our earnings release. We look forward to completing our dialogue with the SEC.”

Novell press release:
Novell intends to release its fourth quarter and full-year 2007 earnings upon the completion of the SEC’s review. Novell is unable to estimate when the process will be completed, but currently expects to file its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2007 on or before its due date of Dec. 31, 2007.

Vaughan Nichols article:
Novell intends to release its fourth quarter and full year 2007 earnings upon the completion of the SEC’s review. Novell is unable to estimate when the process will be completed, but currently expects to file its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2007 on or before its due date of Dec. 31, 2007.

To be sure, Vaughan Nichols didn’t just cut-and-paste Novell’s press release and call it his own story. He also added a couple of original paragraphs — a big positive quote from a Novell-loving analyst saying how great things are going at Novell these days. Just to make sure everything is fair and balanced.

The whole thing is especially disappointing considering that Steven J. Vaughan Nichols is the leader of a group called the Internet Press Guild which acts as a self-appointed watchdog agency keeping an eye on other filthy hacks. The group has in the past filed complaints accusing other filthy hacks of being unethical.

Over the weekend Katie reported this transgression to Society of Professional Journalists and asked that the group revoke the hack license of Steven J. Vaughan Nichols or at least suspend his license pending an investigation. In response, the Vaughan Nichols-led Internet Press Guild has issued an open letter stating that SJVN did not copy any lines verbatim and the whole thing is a Microsoft-funded conspiracy (with Apple acting as Microsoft’s proxy) and where’s the proof and unless someone can show the exact lines that were stolen then everyone should just shut up.

On a side note, How come when Apple gets some heat from the SEC we get our sphincters probed for weeks on end by every filthy hack in the business, but when Novell gets busted the hacks either ignore the story or, if they really really have to write something, they just parrot back Novell’s bullshit and sprinkle in a little more pro-Novell bullshit of their own?

Simple explanation, Katie says. Novell distributes Linux, which by definition means they could never do anything bad. Plus Novell is the company that saved Linux from legal attacks by the SCO Group. So when Novell gets in trouble they can count on all these little freetard hacks turning into part-time flacks for the company and helping out with damage control.

Shame on you, Steven J. Vaughan Nichols. Shame.

(Photo of Pamela Jones by Eric Raymond.)