Correction: “Concerned Fellow ” a commenter below, has pointed out to me that plagiarism is used for words not design and suggested design theft as more appropriate. I have taken the correction. I will still leave the title as it is though but please note the error.

Normally, my blogpost are long which is because I talk a lot. This time around I will go to the point. This morning, I went to Thisday to read my daily news and noticed the site was down, I suspected they would be doing a revamp just like CNN. I came back tonight to check and say a new site and this shocker. The shamelessly copied the BBC website.

Spot the difference…if you can!
Thisday copy

BBC

Dear Thisday,

If you must plagiarize do not be popular and do it discreetly. You cannot be one of the most visited websites in Nigeria and brazenly copy one of the most popular sites in the world.

Why I am REALLY pissed

• I attended Warwick and I was hunted with the continuing threat of repercussion from plagiarism.
• I am struggling to revamp Nigeria’s image on the web and have spent a lot of time telling anyone I meet that Nigeria has a lot of talent and we are capable of doing world class stuff. This can set my efforts years back. I assure you there are at least 5 Nigeria based designers I know that would do world-class stuff. If you are from Thisday and you want referrals I can help you out 🙂
• You guys can surely do better, aren’t you the guys that do style magazine?

What should be done?

• Pull this disgrace down!
• Sack ok, give a severe warning to whoever is on this project. If it was an outside contract, cancel it immediately, the person has no shame or talent!
If you need local inspiration, look at 234Next or Vanguard.

I am sure you will hear from BBC soon, therefore I expect swift action.

With tough love,

Oo

PS: why did you guys move from .com to .net? what happens to your Page rank of 7 and the years of SEO?

Update: The site is down now, maybe they got the message. I am hoping for something good when it comes back up.

Update 2: It is back up and looks even worse. They even had the nerve to add “© Copyright Thisday Online 2009. All rights reserved.”  Please email [email protected] and tell him what you think.

Update 3: Thisday’s .com had stopped redirecting to .net. But the .net is still as up to date as the .com. I am still watching and hoping it is temporary.

Plagiarism at its worst! Please Thisday, retrace your steps!