I'm too busy making some money so I cannot bother you each hour with a breaking story. But every now and then I see a nice story and write that up with proper attribution. That is not only because attribution and linking to the original source is a golden rule on the internet. It is also not because I think it is fair to pay tribute to the original source, kind of intellectual property thing. Sometimes original sources are simply wrong and it is always nice in those cases if you can pass on the blame to others you have quoted.
This week I picked up a funny story about bibles that became too expensive because of Chinese smokers. Of course I linked back to the original story in the Dutch newspaper, and that newspaper said it picked up the story in the German magazine Der Spiegel.
Now, this story turned up today at the rather obscure China newsportal Jongo. I'm monitoring their home page because they have no rss-feed (so what else to do?) and I will meet some of their people on Monday to talk about possible cooperation. Now, it is ok to call this article "Jongo News", since they ad their own tidbits. But where are the attributions? It does not mention my weblog, the Dutch newspaper or Der Spiegel. Of course, they add their own things, but this comes close to, eh, stealing. Can I now admit this story was a fake? Just to expose this kind wrong doing? Only people who read Dutch or German will know the truth.
Update: Even Der-Spiegel readers who missed the story link back to this weblog.
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