Is a Winner of The 10th Philippine Web Awards Guilty of Plagiarism?
By Rico, 6:06 pm Wed Nov 28 2007 - News - 76 Opinions
A few hours ago, an anonymous source provided Technograph with evidence of apparent plagiarism by Einsteinarts.com. The Arts and Portfolio winner of the 10th Philippine Web Awards uses the same platform located at 24-7media.de/os/popup.html. The “fully functional web template” is currently being sold for $3,000.
Einsteinarts.com/main.html:
24-7media.de/os/popup.html:
Technograph approached Einstein S. Gan, the owner of the site, for clarification. Mr. Gan admitted that his portfolio site was an imitation, but stressed that it was purely accidental and that he “didn’t really knew [sic] about the 24-7media site.” He also claimed that he “added all my own actionscipts, icons, content, background, etc for my own site. I know the skin still looks very much the same to the site you have provided…That’s because I was using it as a template for my own site.”
The guidelines of the PWAs clearly state that “The entry must not be plagiarized in terms of content and design from a copyrighted source, such as another Web site.” Is Einsteinarts.com guilty of plagiarism? If so, then Media Gateway Inc., the organizers of the Philippine Web Awards, have broken their own rules. Admittedly, the definition of plagiarism in the visual sense has been confused by the proliferation of free website and blog themes. Technogra.ph uses the Semiologic theme, a highly-customizable platform that many other websites use.
In any case, it is clear that Media Gateway should look into this matter further. At the very least, they need to clarify their guidelines for next year’s competition. Read Technograph’s other articles on the 2007 Philippine Web Awards.
Update: Einsteinarts.com is down.
Related Articles (Automatically Generated)
- 10th Philippine Web Awards Winner Disqualified; First Runner Up to Receive Trophy
- Philippine Web Awards Organizers Declare Publication of Judges’ Scores “Unauthorized”
- The Winners of the 10th Philippine Web Awards
- 11th Philippine Web Awards Set for February 27
- Nominations for the 11th Philippine Web Awards Extended
krm
6:06 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
well it maybe wrong choice of words (imitation) but just curious, how could it be accidental if it was imitated? Also the similarities between the 2 are hard to pass off as accidental. I am personally a fan of Einstein’s works, but i find this disappointing if it were true.
Einstein
6:06 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
Hello everyone, I just wanted to clarify that I didn’t mean to blatantly plagiarize the 24-7media platform. I didn’t really knew about the existing template on the 24-7media site and I had gotten hold of the design/template as part of a cd archive of design templates given to me. I then tried to adapt and modify the template for my site. I’m so sorry if I have offended and disappointed anyone.
Mark
7:07 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
Dude! don’t join a web design competition if you’re using a template in the first place! (ARTS CATEGORY in particular) have you heard of originality? we paid 2500 just to lose to a stupid web template!? and if you’re planning to use templates again in the future – BE SURE TO EDIT THEM design-wise!
ouch!
7:07 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
true! arts category pa naman, un pala ang art nya. plagiarism. tsk tsk tsk…. ano ulit ung tanong? may gagawin ba PWA dito? naku, malabo na un, niniwala kayo natalo GMA sa UNTV? no no no, imposible un. pati issues ng judges nakalitaw parn. d man lang pinansin reklamo ng tao. nanalo Ilustrador Ng Kabataan? tapos isang judge may connection sa site na un? tsk tsk…..
Einstein
7:07 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
Hello everyone, I realized that I have made a mistake. I am truly sorry. I will email the PWA committee and request that they disqualify me and take my award. Again, I am so sorry.
Credibility
8:08 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
Even the judging in the eLGU category has some gray areas. Marikina for sure did not conform to the citizen-centric guidelines set by the NCC (which is a gold sponsor in the 1-th PWA), and yet they win. If one were to browse the websites of the other finalists under the eLGU-City category, Marikina is the only site that has no Philippine flag portrayed anywhere in the website and did not even design the website according to the UN-ASPA standards which have been enforced by an NCC circular. I don’t know if NCC has a say on this or if they were consulted about this. One thing for sure, the judges only look for one criterion: design. The rest (content, usability, functionality) were outrightly thrown in the dustbin.
The judges’ credibility has already been questioned yet the PWA has no official statement about it. Even some of the finalists did not follow the guidelines and yet again, PWA just let them escape unscathed.
Sorry for crying out loud. I know this is totally OT here. But I have been wanting to say this in the first place over at the mails, but was afraid it would affect our standing in the finals.
Grunge
9:09 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
Well, how come din nanalo ang san rafael.. and dami ng bugs ng website nila, interactive-wise is very zero…functionality and contents…wahhh…eLGU? What can NCC say this..dapat ibalik na sa NCC ang eLGU…di na credible ang PWA na mag gawad ng award sa mga eLGU. bini base pa naman ang criteria sa graphics…WTF…basahin nyo nga guidelines and criteria taga PWA..
Dennison Uy - Graphic Designer
10:10 pm Wed Nov 28 2007
PWA does uses generalized rules for judging for so it does not need to honor NCC standards. I do agree with Credibility’s observation that judging appears to be based largely on design, which is sad. I also disagree with the pay per entry policy, because then only those who have money and “want” to win an award will join, plus they are already making money off sponsorships and tickets. Having worked for a company that has sponsored PWA in the past, our disdain for PWA has made us not join for the last 3 years.
araykopo
12:12 am Thu Nov 29 2007
one thing i know, PWA has accomplished their mission. EARN BIG MONEY. and yes every year is a success. do they really follow their guidelines/critera? content, design, usability, functionality? I guess not. Probably why they don’t reveal scores. I’m sure it wasn’t judged fairly and honestly. Scores were tampered.
PS.
to the committee of PWA, it’s ok to tell the truth. We want to hear it from you…. We’ll be waiting!
PopPunk
1:01 am Thu Nov 29 2007
hi! i also joined the 10th web awards. Although the winner in the category I joined deserves the prize, or trophy rather (cause I’m not sure if there’s a prize money), I’m so disappointed on the system of the competition itself. There were a lot of issues raised by the entrants themselves yet Media G8way didn’t even bother to clarify them, even before the Awards night. If you have a copy of their mini-mag (which is inside the relief goods bag), one of the Judges there has worked(or still works) with INK. I’m not saying he didn’t judged well but it’s a violation of the rules that they themselves set. Other issues are the scoresheet, people’s choice awards, price of the ticket (4 beers, 1 platter of pasta etc., and panis na fish fillet for 1000), etc. etc.. (you can add yours here..:D ). Well anyways, I’m a bit convinced that the competition is a FUND RAISING EVENT. Maybe they just forgot to place a fine-print on their website and emails.
PopPunk
1:01 am Thu Nov 29 2007
by the way, i forgot to mention that the free shirt of this prestigious web-design fund-raising-event looks really AWESOME.
James Howlett
9:09 am Thu Nov 29 2007
about how they’ve scored it i got a reply from them: Sorry but we can’t give the breakdown of the scores, because the scores for the websites are only with the official auditors (Punongbayan & Araullo). However, the criteria for judging are:
Content- 25%
Design- 25%
Usability- 25%
Functionality- 25%.
For full descriptions of these criteria, please refer to the souvenir program.
do you think that functionality and usability just the same?
Anton Sheker
9:09 am Thu Nov 29 2007
is this really just a design contest?
my site has been online since 2003 and now has 40000+ photos of photographers that showcase the Philippines and their personal work online and all for free..
and i lose to someone that plagiarized?
Where is the justice in that?
Paolo
10:10 am Thu Nov 29 2007
I also joined in the category in which mr. einstein won. This is just stupid. Natatawa na lang ako. I don’t care if you put your own content. The backbone of your site is still a blatant rip. Susmaryosep. Media Gateway better get do something about this. I don’t think youre going to get a lot of entries next year. Kahit naman HTML lang entry ko original naman. Kahit yung kayla Mark(noqui) etc. Go bosconians. Mahiya ka sa Alma Mater mo.
PunkyFresh
10:10 am Thu Nov 29 2007
I think Einstein already accepted his mistake and apologized for it. Let’s wait for Media G8ways next step. It’s not just einstein who didn’t do his part in the competition. If the judges were so keen and critical, they should’ve done some research too. This is not some barangay’s popularity contest–this is the *10th* PWA. We expect a little difference(just a little please). Don’t make us think that “Media G8way” somehow is a pun of “Media Get-away” ’cause you seem to get-away with the issues every year.