Legendary Member's ban appeal

[btcrevo]

1/21/2021: I'm re-opening the thread. Please don't reply to this thread until you read this quick edit, as well as the entirety of the current discussion.

I've now waited over a year and a half for an answer that hasn't been speculation by forum members (as thoughtful and reasonable as they have been). During this time, I took a year interim as a period to acknowledge the obvious mistake I made in the past. I've clearly not a perfect person, so I ask that you keep that in mind in any discussions.

I'm only turning to bump this thread again because my emails to the ban appeal email have gone without response, with months in between to generously allow for one. I believe my ban appeal will be useful in this meta discussion of it, so I'll copy it over from my email to this post. It's not short, so feel free to just skim over it.

Hello,

I'm writing this email as a ban appeal, but with hopes that this is different from the standard quality of ban appeals that I'm sure you're used to by now. (Original account - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=372249)

I doubt that you remember this specific case, but over year ago (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5150253.0) my account here was banned for plagiarism. The linked thread is a short 2 page discussion that may provide extra context.

I bought my account on September 22, 2015 (first post (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1185587.msg12495060#msg12495060) - you can see in my post history (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=372249;sa=showPosts;start=1040) that posts before this have a stark contrast), and although that wasn't a smart move looking back, it's a mistake that I am more than willing to take responsibility for.

I don't want to waste your time with a long post that I wouldn't read in your position. I wasn't an incredibly reputable member, nor did I do many projects for the community. I do, however, have a very short list of points that I hope are considered when you read this.

• I operated a free web hosting service for members of this community (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2830067.msg29008817#msg29008817) for over 18 months out of my own pocket.
• I ran a post review/sMerit service (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3544990.0) to help forum newbies get started, although you'll notice that it didn't gain much traction and I let it fall through not too long after.
• I ran an information scraper for BitcoinTalk (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1820826) in 2017 for some time, before they became all the rage here.
• I had frequent trades, often PP/BTC, that amounted to over $3000 during my time here. I did not care if my trade partners would give me DT feedback, and the reputation I built was solely based on what I needed.
• Subjective point - I often tried to contribute to a friendly environment, especially during times when members of the community were hacking away at each other without mind. Perhaps it was enough for a net positive in the community, although that one's up to you.

That's all. I've taken a break from the community until now, but I'd love to be a part of it once again.

Best regards.

Cheers.


Hi all. bitcoin revo here.

Original profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=372249

Logged into the forum a few weeks ago, saw that I was permanently banned with no reason listed. I'm posting here with a new account because I haven't received a response to an inquiring email I sent 15 days ago.

Why was I banned?

Best regards.

[subSTRATA]

the major problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
and the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1101336.msg12477276#msg12477276

Software development team here.
We would like to hear from the community what are the most annoying\frustrating stuff you have with Bitcoin and would love to get a solution for ?
Feel free to talk about any problem, even if it seems unsolvable or too abstract (e.g. Bitcoin is not safe enough for the average user)
Edit:
After reading all the replies, I feel confident summarizing that the #1 problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
And the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security.
We are a team of entrepreneurs and software developers that are going to spend the next following months-year on developing a new product.
One of the most appealing markets for us is the Bitcoin market.
We will try to learn us much as possible from your replies and try to tackle the problems head on.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1101336.msg11724341#msg11724341

[Bttzed03]

.

OP was probably edited after the account in question posted his/her opinion on the topic.

...
Edit:
After reading all the replies, I feel confident summarizing that the #1 problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
And the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security.

[subSTRATA]

-

plausible. but it seems that post was plagiarized too. it seems to be copied from this reddit post made on march 9th of 2015.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ybt00/whats_your_biggest_problem_with_bitcoin/

[btcrevo]

Wait, for real? I got nailed for a post in '15? I've been reading through a few similar threads about users being similarly hit by plagiarism posts a long time ago and - yes, it's plagiarism despite when it was - but this seems a little far fetched. I can't even remember writing this post, but I assume that it was in my phase of "wow, look at these signature campaigns!" that I thought I had taken care of deleted accordingly, but it appears not.

4 years ago - 4 years of genuine, positive contributions I've made to this community - and I'm banned off of this? I'd be happy with a temporary ban - those who are close to me know that I'm on vacation right now anyways - but a permanent ban disregarding what I've done this community for two damn lines 4 years ago is infuriating.

Right off the bat, I offered free hosting exclusive this community and maintained it for quite a while. Does that deserve no consideration as you guys pursue justice in this case? What about the many thousands of dollars that I fairly exchanged on this forum? I say this because I've been in your shoes, but I urge you to try to imagine this in your position, to your own account.

[tbct_mt2]

You actually can take your second chance with temporary ban and signature ban for one or two years. You can get it or not, depends on your past activities (things presented below are not mine, I describe perspectives of global mods that I read during the banwave in many appeals). There are some factors:
- Total posts that you plagiarised.
- Percentage of plagiarised posts / your total posts (more than half - 50% - will wipe out your second chance, surely)
- Time points of your plagiarism (before or after the rule on plagiarism applied in the forum)
- Your past contributions.

4 years ago - 4 years of genuine, positive contributions I've made to this community - and I'm banned off of this?

Everyone whom got permanent ban will feel happy with a reduced sentence for sure. However, whenever you are back from vacation, you can make the appeal better (that somehow increase your chance) by collecting and presenting posts or threads that you thought are most constructives from your past (before your ban day).

I'd be happy with a temporary ban - those who are close to me know that I'm on vacation right now anyways - but a permanent ban disregarding what I've done this community for two damn lines 4 years ago is infuriating.

I scanned your post history, that looks good (at least not a pure shit poster), so I think you might have chance, but it is not my position to say anything about this.
There is even a user (maybe more, but I know only one) that even come back without signature ban.  

[arbiter5]

the major problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
and the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1101336.msg12477276#msg12477276

Software development team here.
We would like to hear from the community what are the most annoying\frustrating stuff you have with Bitcoin and would love to get a solution for ?
Feel free to talk about any problem, even if it seems unsolvable or too abstract (e.g. Bitcoin is not safe enough for the average user)
Edit:
After reading all the replies, I feel confident summarizing that the #1 problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
And the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security.
We are a team of entrepreneurs and software developers that are going to spend the next following months-year on developing a new product.
One of the most appealing markets for us is the Bitcoin market.
We will try to learn us much as possible from your replies and try to tackle the problems head on.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1101336.msg11724341#msg11724341

Good lord. How do you people manage to dig up plagiarized posts from that far in the past? Especially snipped up statements like that.

[tbct_mt2]

Good lord. How do you people manage to dig up plagiarized posts from that far in the past? Especially snipped up statements like that.

Someone designed a powerful plagiabot, run it, started the banwave, and made the forum to a period should be called as "Chancellor on brink of plagiarism collapse".  Please check my guide and note it down for later use. 
[TIPS] to avoid plagiarism

[tbct_mt2]

That's some serious dedication to banning out plagiarizers. lol. Is this software publicly available?

Not yet, and maybe will not be published. I believe owner(s) of the plagiabot want to keep it fully anonymous.

So someone created a working bot to detect them?

I have no idea how he spots them but he does a good job.

[xtraelv]

.

OP was probably edited after the account in question posted his/her opinion on the topic.

...
Edit:
After reading all the replies, I feel confident summarizing that the #1 problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
And the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security.

If you edit a post it shows as being edited if you hover over the title. (Unless it is edited withing a few minutes of the initial post)

This post does not indicate that it has been edited. But I'm not sure when displaying that a post has been edited was introduced as a function.

Good lord. How do you people manage to dig up plagiarized posts from that far in the past? Especially snipped up statements like that.

Someone designed a powerful plagiabot, run it, started the banwave, and made the forum to a period should be called as "Chancellor on brink of plagiarism collapse".  Please check my guide and note it down for later use. 
[TIPS] to avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious problem and copy and pasting does not contribute to the goals of the forum.

But automated systems can also lead to serious problems :

Positive contributors can get banned for forgetting to put things in quotes.
Sayings and common phrases could potentially lead to a ban.
Deliberate manipulation of external websites can lead to bans. (It has in the past)

[HCP]

OP was probably edited after the account in question posted his/her opinion on the topic.

While it is a plausible theory... unfortunately, it isn't a correct one.

if you look at the bottom of Page TWO of the thread, there is a post (#40) quoting the OP, which already includes the "EDIT": https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1101336.msg11770815#msg11770815

Software development team here.
We would like to hear from the community what are the most annoying\frustrating stuff you have with Bitcoin and would love to get a solution for ?
Feel free to talk about any problem, even if it seems unsolvable or too abstract (e.g. Bitcoin is not safe enough for the average user)
Edit:
After reading all the replies, I feel confident summarizing that the #1 problem of Bitcoin is probably lack of adoption.
And the main reasons of lack of adoption are probably ease of use and insufficient security.
We are a team of entrepreneurs and software developers that are going to spend the next following months-year on developing a new product.
One of the most appealing markets for us is the Bitcoin market.
We will try to learn us much as possible from your replies and try to tackle the problems head on.

The single biggest problem with bitcoin is making it accessible and useable for any idiot.  Maybe the 2 problems overlap a little.

But automated systems can also lead to serious problems :

Positive contributors can get banned for forgetting to put things in quotes.
Sayings and common phrases could potentially lead to a ban.
Deliberate manipulation of external websites can lead to bans. (It has in the past)

My understanding from the various comments made in the posts in Meta, is that the banning is NOT automated... only the reporting of possible plagiarism is automated. The bans (in spite of the "Autoban" name on the Modlog) are still done by a human who needs to check each report before issuing the ban.

Having said that, anyone reported is at the mercy of the overworked mods... but one would like to think they do more than just click the ban button when a report is received.

[Veleor]

<...> but a permanent ban disregarding what I've done this community for two damn lines 4 years ago is infuriating

This is not the only message which you copied. Almost all of your first comments you took from other members or websites.


Copy:

Faucets pay so very very little.  You can in most cases hope for a few cent's a hour.  It is sad, but it's true.

Original:

Faucets pay so very very little.  You can in most cases hope for a few cent's a hour.  It is sad, but it's true.

Copy:

might actually just be a better idea to wait and see what will actually happen with the fork ?

Original:

this is true as well, it might actually just be a better idea to wait and see what will actually happen with the fork, and in the meantime prices might fall quite a bit, or a new hard drive might be released with even better specs for the same price

Copy:

I watched Goodfellas for the first time quite recently - it's certainly now in my top 10 I think.

Original:

I watched Goodfellas for the first time quite recently - it's certainly now in my top 10 I think.

Copy:

Totally respect that. riskier now. but more risk sometimes comes with more potential reward, but it is far from guaranteed.

Original:

Totally respect that. Riskier now. More risk sometimes comes with more potential reward, but it is far from guaranteed.

Copy:

So many #bitcoin startups are sprouting all over the place and it is going more and more mainstream day by day. It will only get better and better over the coming year. I see this coming year as being the tipping point for Bitcoin Prices to surge.

Original:

So many #bitcoin startups are sprouting all over the place and it is going more and more mainstream day by day. It will only get better and better over the coming year. I see this coming year as being the tipping point for Bitcoin Prices to surge. <...>

Copy:

Basically in a high crime area can be used as reasonable suspicion to stop that person and investigate him

Original:

Basically says that fleeing at the sight of police in a high crime area can be used as reasonable suspicion to stop that person and investigate him.

Copy:

Have you managed to get to any conclusion in your thread ? This will save me a lot of reading...

Original:

Have you managed to get to any conclusion in your thread ? This will save me a lot of reading...Thanks.

Copy:

They have put a considerable effort into their site, they seem to have ambitions to expand as a bitcoin business

Original:

They have put a considerable effort into their site, they seem to have ambitions to expand as a bitcoin business <...>

Copy:

This really confuses me. There is literally no protection against for the buyer to get scammed? Am I right or wrong?

Original:

This really confuses me. There is literally no protection against for the buyer to get scammed? Am I right or wrong?

Copy:

One of the most important things for this to work is confidence, since dev are an anonymous newbie

Original:

One of the most important things for this to work is confidence.. since you (dev) are an anonymous newbie <...>

Copy:

I understand how people feel about these other Bitcoin copies, alternatives.
However I still believe that alternative Crypto currencies good for bitcoin and the community.

Original:

I understand how people feel about these other Bitcoin copies, alternatives.
However I still believe that alternative Crypto currencies good for bitcoin and the community.

Copy:

decentralized or anonymous, or you can consider them as anonymous as the internet is, which we know is not as anonymous as we would like ?

Original:

descentralized or anonymous, or you can consider them as anonymous as the internet is, which we know is not as anonymous as we would like.

Copy:

Since it has such a high difficulty and such a low supply, Bitcoin will be worth thousands of dollars each in a few years!

Original:

Since it has such a high difficulty and such a low supply, tacocoin will be worth millions each in a few days!

Copy:

could you give a brief guide on how to setup to solo mine ? I have never been able to figure it out
thanks

Original:

could you give a brief guide on how to setup to solo mine ? I have never been able to figure it out
thanks

Copy:

Now. Any plans for the coin? Exchange, future?

Original:

Now. Any plans for the coin? Exchange, future? Or same as DOSH. Mining to pay bigger electricity bill - (good hoby)

Copy:

Why the hell are you launching all these coins? It's getting pretty ridiculous.

Original:

Why the hell are you launching all these coins? It's getting pretty ridiculous.

Copy:

Keep spreading FUD, sell your coins quickly please while you can, bitcoin can be $10 within a day

Original:

Keep spreading FUD, sell your coins quickly please while you can, bitcoin can be $0 within a day when people have read your post!

Copy:

It could be $0 one day, but then again, it could be $10,000
Anyways I expect it to last at least 10 years at minimum, but who knows. Satoshi is still out there right? If he ever creates "Bitcoin 2.0" I'll jump the boat for the founder.

Original:

It could be $0 one day, but then again, it could be $10,000
Anyways I expect it to last at least 10 years at minimum, but who knows. Satoshi is still out there right? If he ever creates "Bitcoin 2.0" I'll jump the boat for the founder.

Copy:

Nice to see that a lot of people notice that this is a great coin  
don't allow dumpers to dump their coins.!!!

Original:

Nice to see that a lot of people notice that this is a great coin and don't allow dumpers to dump their coins.!!!

Copy:

Dead
well, that's what happens to coins that don't have a hardworking dev

Original:

well, that's what happens to coins that don't have a hardworking dev behind them like KDC has.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Good lord. How do you people manage to dig up plagiarized posts from that far in the past? Especially snipped up statements like that.

It doesn't surprise me that a plagiarized post can be discovered in years past, because there's an especially ambitious member (or a bot) seeking these posts out.  What's alarming is that a member like bitcoin revo is getting banned--he's a good guy, and I've traded with him a couple of times.

I do hope OP doesn't get a permaban, because he's a decent member, regardless of that copy/paste.  He isn't a serial plagiarizer, a shitposter, or a scammer.  This is another one of the instances where I think someone should be given a second chance.  But yikes, this is crazy to see.

<snip>

Whoops, I didn't read the whole thread before posting.  Holy shit, OP!  You plagiarized that many posts?!  Big sigh.  Those are all really old, but still. 

[Quickseller]

~~

@OP - did you buy your account? When? Who did you buy it from?

If you were the person doing this plagiarism, I think your published should be more than a 60 day + 2 year signature ban.

If you were not the person who plagiarized all these posts, I think theymos (or Cyrus) should take some time to look for any current alts of this person and ban them all permanently.

I haven’t verified all the instances of plagiarism claimed, and my above post assumes they are accurate.

[subSTRATA]

Good lord. How do you people manage to dig up plagiarized posts from that far in the past? Especially snipped up statements like that.

Someone designed a powerful plagiabot, run it, started the banwave, and made the forum to a period should be called as "Chancellor on brink of plagiarism collapse".  Please check my guide and note it down for later use.
[TIPS] to avoid plagiarism

afaik the creator of that software wishes to remain anonymous; I just recognize some of the patterns that plagiarized posts sometimes have (punctuation, new lines, sentence structure, etc. just feels 'off' when I look at it) and literally just search the phrase and see if a match pops up.

[Lauda]

I do hope OP doesn't get a permaban, because he's a decent member, regardless of that copy/paste.  He isn't a serial plagiarizer, a shitposter, or a scammer.  This is another one of the instances where I think someone should be given a second chance.  But yikes, this is crazy to see.

This is another instance of aTriz, gator and many others abusing you and other people who are lenient with worthless PayPal related positive trust. I guess I can repeat this quite the number of times, but it does not seem like these people are willing to listen as it causes cognitive dissonance.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I do hope OP doesn't get a permaban, because he's a decent member, regardless of that copy/paste.  He isn't a serial plagiarizer, a shitposter, or a scammer.  This is another one of the instances where I think someone should be given a second chance.  But yikes, this is crazy to see.

This is another instance of aTriz, gator and many others abusing you and other people who are lenient with worthless PayPal related positive trust. I guess I can repeat this quite the number of times, but it does not seem like these people are willing to listen as it causes cognitive dissonance.

Well we did deals and bitcoin revo became one of the members I came to trust enough to leave positives for, and I'd trade with him again if the opportunity arose.  I sent first on those deals, so I took the risk, and I don't think I got duped by him just because he's got an old history of plagiarism.  Anyway, I hear what you're saying and I'll mull it over.

@OP - did you buy your account? When? Who did you buy it from?

Now I'm wondering this as well, because the copy/pasting obviously stopped being a habit for him years ago. 

[Quickseller]

@OP - did you buy your account? When? Who did you buy it from?

Now I'm wondering this as well, because the copy/pasting obviously stopped being a habit for him years ago. 

I would be in favor of opposing leniency until he provides as much of this information as he can, and admitting his account was bought.

Looking at his post history, I would have guessed his first post was here, which was posted on September 21, 2015, 02:20:15 AM, and his password changed here, approximately a day later. 

I do hope OP doesn't get a permaban, because he's a decent member, regardless of that copy/paste.  He isn't a serial plagiarizer, a shitposter, or a scammer.  This is another one of the instances where I think someone should be given a second chance.  But yikes, this is crazy to see.

This is another instance of aTriz, gator and many others abusing you and other people who are lenient with worthless PayPal related positive trust. I guess I can repeat this quite the number of times, but it does not seem like these people are willing to listen as it causes cognitive dissonance.

aTriz didn't have any DT ratings (from who are on DT today) until he went into business with you. He was then shielded by you once he was seen to be very shady.

[Veleor]

<...> Looking at his post history, I would have guessed his first post was here, which was posted on September 21, 2015, 02:20:15 AM <...>

That post was plagiarized as well.

the government can use various justifications or pass new laws if necessary that bars businesses from accepting bitcoin as payment. Laws against tax evasion, money laundering, etc.

Even if any government tolerated the existence of a second currency (they won't), one that is untraceable would be particularly repulsive to their sensibilities. So, the government can use various justifications (or pass new laws if necessary) that bars businesses from accepting bitcoin as payment. Laws against tax evasion, money laundering, etc. could all apply. Since it is pretty risky to accept even without the government hating it (and represents a piddling amount of actual money), why would any actual merchant accept it?

<...> and his password changed here, approximately a day later.  

In this case account bitcoin revo possibly changed hands after September 22, 2015, 02:57:55 AM.

[Quickseller]

<...> Looking at his post history, I would have guessed his first post was here, which was posted on September 21, 2015, 02:20:15 AM <...>

[...]

That post was the first, while quickly browsing his post history that did not look like one liner nonsense posts. My working assumption had been that the farmer was not outright incapable of posting something that was not incoherent. Perhaps he just got lucky in what he chose to plagiarize.

<...> and his password changed here, approximately a day later. 

In that case account bitcoin revo possibly changed hands after September 22, 2015, 02:57:55 AM.

Right. He most likely fully took over the account at 4:33 PM that day, and made his actual first post a few hours later.