Ban Appeal for Pokapoka124

[Pokapoka124_appeal]

Good day everyone,
I joined the forum on Dec 13, I came to the forum from telegram. That's my background...pump and dump groups, mining scams e.t.c. I had been scammed on telegram and needed a safe place. That's why I came here. I enjoy the peace and sanity during my 9 months here. I learnt so much and have introduced bitcoin in my day life. I found this morning my account has been banned.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2873783
The post in question was created Jan 20 when I was newbie.  I read the article and was excited about the news. The intent was to not to claim the work, I only wanted to know why someone would do such a thing on the blockchain. I was a newbie at the time and therefore the motivation was not to complete signature post quota. But simply to gain knowledge. Most of my topics back then were made of questions. I admit I should have done more to cite the reference because the images didn't do justice to that.
I always believed in the justice of the moderators. That is the main reason why I have created this thread
Quote from: theymos on February 24, 2019, 03:57:17 PM
If you think that a ban should be ended, make your case in a new topic from a "good for the forum as a whole" perspective.

Why I think good for the forum as a whole ?
I won't claim to be a saint...far from it. I agree that I have made mistakes in the past but I try to be the best I can. Although I am not a well reputed member of this distinguished forum but my love for this community is undeniable. Coming from telegram groups( a safe haven for scammers), I took it as a mission to expose such scams here. So far I have exposed 10 scams. I'm asking for a second chance . I hope moderators @hilariousandco will consider my appeal.

My Scam Posts
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5320813.msg56464287#msg56464287

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5320811.msg56464207#msg56464207

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5306518.msg56011018#msg56011018

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5338256.msg57036124#msg57036124

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5329723.msg56752155#msg56752155

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5355715.msg57746093#msg57746093

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5355468.msg57735080#msg57735080

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5355059.msg57718760#msg57718760

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5351367.msg57555263#msg57555263

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5346406.msg57338178#msg57338178

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5345478.msg57300307#msg57300307


Reasons Why I will miss the forum
I am grateful to be on the forum. I have learnt a lot here. I recently included Bitcoin payments in my stores. The forum members have been helpful giving their suggestions and ideas on how to improve my business. I promised to give feedback after two months.
Some other helpful threads I have come to appreciate are;

How to use lightning Network

TUTORIAL: How to use Electrum (for beginners)

[READ] About blockchain.info's web wallet and "stuck" transactions

🌍[Guide] Prevent scam!!! Some useful tools for find scam / fake ICO team 🌍

How to Prevent Telegram Users from adding you to Telegram Groups!

How does a double spend 51% attack work ? Explanation and examples

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[airfinex]

• All you do is tell us that the "newbie" is to blame for the plagiarism and not you.
• All you do is try to outshine us with your "alleged" achievements instead of appealing
• You did not even deign to mention that in 24 hours you were convicted of plagiarism twice

There is a huge difference between you and another guy who recently filed an appeal, because he admitted his mistake and you did not! And I do not understand what relation to the bitcoin forum is the instruction how to "prohibit adding you to groups" - it is the same if you said that on this forum you learned how to properly wipe your ass.

[Desmong]

• All you do is tell us that the "newbie" is to blame for the plagiarism and not you.
• All you do is try to outshine us with your "alleged" achievements instead of appealing
• You did not even deign to mention that in 24 hours you were convicted of plagiarism twice

There is a huge difference between you and another guy who recently filed an appeal, because he admitted his mistake and you did not! And I do not understand what relation to the bitcoin forum is the instruction how to "prohibit adding you to groups" - it is the same if you said that on this forum you learned how to properly wipe your ass.

What do you think about the below quote?

it's obvious that this your account is an alt account of a reputable member of this forum hiding under a member account. How come you are so skilled in attacking and running researches that only a member that have stayed long in this forum could exhibit.

You are an alt account, take it or leave it!

If you think that a ban should be ended, make your case in a new topic from a "good for the forum as a whole" perspective.

[airfinex]

It's none of your business why I'm using an alternate account, so enjoy the quote.

Marcel, Marie.

I don't have a problem with alt accounts as long as they're not used for evading bans. 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.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I was a newbie at the time and therefore the motivation was not to complete signature post quota. But simply to gain knowledge.

Being a newbie is no excuse, and I don't understand the link between you wanting to gain knowledge and failing to cite a source for the person's work which you posted.  It also doesn't matter that you weren't in a sig campaign or what your motivation was for posting someone else's content.  The fact is that you broke the rule about plagiarism, and unlike Mpamaegbu you're not claiming that you forgot to cite the source; you're not giving any reason for not doing so, just extraneous facts/feelings.

If you think that a ban should be ended, make your case in a new topic from a "good for the forum as a whole" perspective.

Why I think good for the forum as a whole ?

So far I have exposed 10 scams.

That's a mitigating factor, but if the mods are going to be consistent, being a Sr. Member with an account less than a year old whose main value to the forum has been exposing 10 scams isn't going to result in the ban being lifted.  A member has to be very much valued by the community for that to happen, and personally I wasn't even familiar with who you were when I found out about your ban (along with Mpamaegbu's in the BestChange campaign thread).  Maybe the moderators will see it differently, but that's how I see it.

By the way, you were pretty harsh with this member:

Op you clearly broke the terms and conditions. You KNEW your country was RESTRICTED from the start. I assume you were using VPN to access the site. And finally got caught. A better approach would have given you more audience and sympathy but blatantly calling a reputable company a scam because of your folly is...well...not a very good idea.

I would suggest that if the mods or the community apply the same standards to your own behavior, don't expect much support with your ban appeal.  You never made the claim that you didn't know plagiarism wasn't allowed, therefore you knowingly broke the rule, just like the member in the above quote.

[Desmong]

It's none of your business why I'm using an alternate account, so enjoy the quote.

Marcel, Marie

You are just barely 2 months in this great forum and you are writing, acting and behaving like a Legendary/Hero member.

Why don't you come out using your main account rather than just hiding under the shadow of your damn curiosity to make a common sense

[Smartvirus]

I'll rather see a user repent and corrects his mistake, than to see them being banned while trying to be the best they could be. Though, this is very difficult to ascertain given the fact that, in the forum, it is just words that we hang on and words of deceit is a part of the forum for which we can't completely get rid of.

The Pokapoka124 account is one of the fastest grown account which got a 3fold boost lately due to the users activeness and contributions to the forum. First was his acceptance to the Roobet campaign,  his promotion to senior member and lastly his acceptance to the Best_Change campaign. A campaign well known to be very skeptical in picking users that are presumably amongst the elites with regards to there contribution in the forum.
I must say, this user has done his quota and continued to do more in scam bursting, exposing both scammers and their sites with practical interactions with these scammers and its been a good one. People believe what they see and in many instances, you made us see them.

Though, I'm still mad with that silly mistake not to have put a proper link and instead, embedded it in a photo. It is a fact that newbie accounts aren't allowed to post images and as such, a way around it has been posting links that redirects you to the reference points. Seeing your error photo display might earn you a benefit of the doubt on that instance but, the best way to redemption is accepting of guilt before stating your case truthfully and with remorse.
I'm sure this account means alot to you hence, your move to save it but, you could only hope for the best and the best lies with the mods.

[suchmoon]

It's none of your business why I'm using an alternate account

You kinda make it everyone's business when you use your sockpuppetry to stir shit up:

I am one of those people who like to shake the nerves of others, so if Mpamaegbu successfully appeals against the ban and is unbanned, I will provide new evidence since I have something in store. I am such an obnoxious brute only on weekends, on other days I enjoy watching such scandals drinking Piña colada.

Such a great keyboard warrior hiding under theymos' quote. Pathetic.

[GeorgeJohn]

I think a situation like this we have to tamper justic with mercy because irrespective the gravity of user community, i dont want to blame anybody base on evil commitment but a human that is filled with human sympathy it will not be absolutely nice for we to be losing our members one after the other base on their mistakes, because i noticed that some person's works deliberately to elevate the status of the community which i might say pokapoka124 is one of the potential user who tried to grow to the community despite it's mistake,

I'm appealing that irrespective of his crime or commitment, let mods try to grant him favour of temporary ban base on his hardwork and engagement to the community, when looking at it from another perspective how would you feel if you happen to be ban for a community you enjoyed their interaction for long periods of time because of your errors...i really feel so sad and some how when i see people being into trouble...let us not really judge people base on their mistakes because i was told during my primary school period that mistake never be a mistake until it repeat it self severally.

[Igebotz]

Getting kicked out of a place where you put in so much effort and time is not a feeling anyone wants to have. I'm not sure how reasonable your case is, but I'm confident @hilariousandco will always do what is best for the forum. We are requesting that Poka's contributions to the forum and the local community be recognized, and that the mods consider the positive aspects of his contributions to the forum and give him a second chance to clean up his mess.

Why I think good for the forum as a whole ?
I won't claim to be a saint...far from it. I agree that I have made mistakes in the past but I try to be the best I can. Although I am not a well reputed member of this distinguished forum but my love for this community is undeniable.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Let it be known that I have spoken with this user over the phone and he confess to not understanding the forum rules of no plagiarism back when he started on the forum (that's no excuse though) but immediately he got familiarize with the forum, he has been going through his past works including links anywhere he sees fit and probably miss some posts. He also indicated that's why he picked interest in writing about them so others will be educated unlike he was.

He also admitted to adding links of recent to some others that were brought up against him. I think there's no point of chasing away real users on the forum and not alts. While his issue is a very difficult one as he has been found guilty on multiple occasions, I still think we can come to a compromised here. The user has realize his mistakes and willing to take another punishment that doesn't involve getting kicked out of the forum.

I won't be forcing it on the forum moderators but any one of them that sees it as a positive that users are willing to stay on the forum without all the other benefits but just to stay educated and engaged with the best Bitcoin forum should reconsider his ban. He deserves to be punished no doubt about that but for his ban I want to join his appeal for that to be lifted. Just sad when you see users that have grown from how they joined the forum get punished for their ignorance.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Once I was in a situation similar to these two users.  I understand the state that they experienced. Yesterday I read the posts of Mpamaegbu for a long time, I did not find anything that could be judged as paraphrased text, or plagiarism.
By the way, Mpamaegbu, you will surely be reading this topic, I would like to say that the reading was fun. And especially I got acquainted with many sayings that you often use, it is sometimes useful in our life. The proverb that if you do not know a person, do not judge, but first get to know him, as never before, fits the case with Mpamaegbu.
As for Pokapoka124, here's a slightly different story. He is disingenuous, but I will not argue that he tried to be active on the forum. I will not point out some of the facts that he knows about, but do you agree, Pokapoka124, to receive a signature ban for a year or two?
This is a good test of loyalty to the forum. Many have gone through this. I think it would be fair to treat decisions to lift the ban based on experience and the people who have been exposed to it.

[Igebotz]

I'm not sure how relevant this merit pie chart is in this case, but I simply wanted to highlight how much his work to the forum has earned him so much respect from high-ranking forum users, and that permanently banning him would be a net loss to the forum and to the Nigerian community. There is no justification for what he has done; all we are asking for is a lesser sentence.

When a child is misbehaving, it is said that you should reprimand him with your right hand while drawing him closer with your left. However, families do not fully abandon their own children.

If you think that a ban should be ended, make your case in a new topic from a "good for the forum as a whole" perspective.

[Smartvirus]

I have come to the realisation of the forum to have over 3kinds of newbies, those whom are here to evade ban, those who are here solely to destroy the accounts of others with an alt and those who are genuine, ignorant & willing to learn for which I belive Pokapoka124 account springed up from. Looking at the pace the account used in growing and the level of acquaintance the account is with the forum.

You can never learn if you aren't ignorant and that's not stupidity. One who claims to know everything is one who could be regarded regarded as a stupid person or an alt. I tell you first hand, most persons never knew the extent to which plagiarism is a serious crime when said in the real word until they saw how forum handles it. Pmalek suggested people living in different parts of the world may view plagiarism differently. Not so many beginners would tend to the reputation board to get really familiarised with the plagiarism rule and if you weren't oriented, your likely to fall and when you do and realise what is faulted, you tend to correct your mistake and that seems like a good thing to me. Being wrong and trying to right the wrongs. This seems the case with the case with this user @Pokapoka124 following his actions by virtue of this thread and looking at the contributions he has on the forum. Even as a newbie and not allowed to post pictures, the user still tried to project a pictorial representation of the intent message across for a better appreciation of content. I look at the piece and it isn't looking like a merit seeking post but solely to understand why people act in certain ways on the blockchain. An inquiry post which is geared towards learning, a core value in the forum. Though, plagiarism remains plagiarism and as such, the piece should have been cited but the intent to learn and not being all merit hungry other posts from beginners should mean something. I can see that the user never earned a single merit on either of the posts it was accused with solely because of the intent which focused on learning.

Having a 3 fold boost in a week or 2weeks I'll say, that's an active user for sure and should be cautioned rather than a permanent ban. If who loose all our ranked users, who teaches the beginners?
Well, I'll plead, that the ban on Pokapoka124 be reconsider and even a more minimal punishment, maybe few months or a year of signature ban would be just okay.

Nobody is banned strictly because of "the rules"; it's always handled case-by-case, but almost always, plagiarists deserve to be permabanned.

If you think that a ban should be ended, make your case in a new topic from a "good for the forum as a whole" perspective.

Forum is first and loosing credible forum users isn’t best for the forum.

[Pokapoka124_appeal]

Thank you all for your sympathy and understanding. I really appreciate it. A signature ban in my case would be mercy. I will accept such mercy if given. Being a member of the forum is more important to me

[Mpamaegbu]

By the way, Mpamaegbu, you will surely be reading this topic, I would like to say that the reading was fun. And especially I got acquainted with many sayings that you often use, it is sometimes useful in our life. The proverb that if you do not know a person, do not judge, but first get to know him, as never before, fits the case with Mpamaegbu.

Your comment here means a lot to me because I don't see you as someone who is given to flattery, having come across some of your posts in the past. Thanks for perusing my posts. Like I said earlier, that debacle unmasked my solitary status on the forum. I don't know whether to be happy for it or not, anyway 🤔.

Honestly, I think the forum would need to review its policy on punishment for plagiarism. I do think that a warning should be there for first offenders before the ultimate strike. I'm moved to tears for the user Pokapoka124. I know what it feels like to be faced with such damnable situation, having just come out of ban myself for something I ordinarily wouldn't have thought of doing. I mean, plagiarism is as bad as theft (no, strike that out.)...as armed robbery. It's intellectual "thievery" permit the use of that expression.

But the truth remains that someone might indulge in plagiarism without even knowing it. It may not be a slip like in my case but complete lack of knowledge of it. Most newbies are caught up with this, especially those who stumble on this forum without anyone holding their hands to show them where and where to read on the forum. Yes, I know the sticky threads are there but most newbies (even veteran members) don't have that patience of thorough reading. They just scan through. That isn't in anyway an excuse to justify plagiarism, though.

@airfinex and I have been having chats after my case was resolved yesterday. There were certain stuff that could even constitute plagiarism that they brought to my awareness and I'm trying to convince them to open a thread for teaching on plagiarism. It should be an interactive thread, not a sticky like we already have, so that samples could be taken and thrashed for members to know. I hope they take up that challenge or someone else does. BTT should be a forum of support and strength to all and not one that unjustifiably seeks to victimize.

Pokapoka124, is a very active and valuable member of this community and an asset to our Nigeria Local Board, All board discussion welcomed. I almost teared up while going through that thread I have running on African Proverbs in Pidgin and seeing his posts and knowing he's banned and can't comment there ATM. @lovesmayfamilis, I'm sure you read some of his posts there too.

I ain't an emotional person but surprisingly this got to me. Please, mods temper justice with mercy on Pokapoka. This community still needs him.

[Poker Player]

Honestly, I think the forum would need to review its policy on punishment for plagiarism. I do think that a warning should be there for first offenders before the ultimate strike.

I doubt that the forum is going to revise its policy on how to deal with plagiarism, but I agree with you. If it's just one case, if it happened a while ago, if it's moderate (not someone just copy-pasting whole paragraphs, but some sentence), don't rush into banning him.

[examplens]

Thank you all for your sympathy and understanding. I really appreciate it. A signature ban in my case would be mercy. I will accept such mercy if given. Being a member of the forum is more important to me

I think usually signature bans were obtained for two years. I believe that you will lose the will to be active as much as up to now.

I think there is very little chance that your account will be unbanned, probably none. it is a completely different case compared to Mpamaegbu.
Obviously, you write copy/paste posts without citing sources. What makes your case difficult is the topic created by you Plagiarism: Where Do We Draw the Line? where you clearly talk about the issue of plagiarism and showing that clearly know the weight of such violations.
So, your mistake can't be considered an accident.

[Pokapoka124_appeal]

You yourself are talking about plagiarism in your topic: Plagiarism: Where Do We Draw the Line? referring to the rules. It was a month and a half before your ban. You talk about newbies and their plagiarism and at the same time fall for plagiarism, as you claim, which was written at the time when you were a newbie.

That is, you talk about it by telling others, but you are not able to apply your statements to yourself. This is strange.

This is true. No argument there. The plagiarised posts were in my early days and are coming back to haunt me. The Plagiarism: Where Do We Draw the Line? was created in a quest to question the extent of plagiarism. It was at this point I was becoming more aware of the dangers of such actions. In an attempt to throw light on plagiarism it's ironic I didn't  to question myself. Its not so funny at this point that I lacked the insight to look at my ownself. That is my blind spot. I seek repentance and plead for retribution

[GeorgeJohn]

I hope it's obvious now that pokapoka124 has accepted the fact that he plagiarised an article as a result of ignorance and also soliciting for mercy even though it's a critical time i think he deserved atoms of help, we really know how difficult and painful it's for someone to lose environment he or her is been acclimatized with, mods you can grant him a second chance with a punishment not to join a signature campaign for some period of time, I'm just considering the fact that he is interest to leave without the community of bitcointalk, going through the post or comment of pokapoka124 via appeal, it seems that he is inquisitive to come back and enjoy the communication of the forum..so let  the privilege should be giving to the user pokapoka124 with some elements of condition.