Re: Plagiary problem

[Jeffrey Sorenson <jsorenson@xxxxxxxx>]

Elmer Elevator wrote:
> 
> During the last round of the plagiarism controversy, one wag
> thoughtlessly asked a question something like this:
> 
> How can a filched program play better Go than the program from which
> it is filched?
> 
> ... and I don't recall anyone satisfactorily answering that.
> 
> If a plagiarist just repackages stolen code, s/he is competing against
> programs s/he can't possibly defeat, but at best only tie ... and in
> the six months or longer since the theft, the programmer from whom
> s/he stole the code will certainly have improved his/her code
> sufficiently to defeat the stolen stale version.
> 
> If a plagiarist steals effective code and changes it sufficiently so
> that it's a consistent winner in the next competitions -- well, then,
> shame on him/her for the initial theft, but it's no longer the stolen
> Fiat ... s/he's enhanced it by his/her own creativity to a
> supercharged new BMW, essentially a product which would have to be
> viewed as achieving its new victories by original work.

I don't see that this conclusion follows. I don't think you can claim
the BMW is "original work" AND the thief would still do time for the
theft of the FIAT. In many states, the BMW would become the property of
the previous owner. This analogy makes little sense.

Jeffrey Sorenson