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I noticed this first over at Chinese.SE and it turns out it was reported 5 months ago on meta.SE. A Quora user Dex Jackson is copy/pasting large numbers of question titles from Stack Exchange onto Quora; this user's activity page is like a plagiarism livestream.

I again reported this to Stack Exchange, but I'm not expecting much of a response. I went to Quora, flagging multitudes of posts, filled in complaint forms, and providing answers linking to the original question, but this eventually got me banned from Quora; they seem disinterested in fixing their problem.

This Quora user is plagiarizing material Stack Exchange wide. Some recent math.SE posts are:

  1. Math.SE (Jul 3 at 18:35): What is the derivative of the following kernel function
    Quora (2m ago): What is the derivative of the following kernel function (calculus, matrices, derivatives, matrix calculus, matrix decomposition, math)?

  2. Math.SE (50 mins ago): Proof of Hoffman & Kruskal's theorem on Unimodularity and Integrality.
    Quora (28m ago): How do you provide a proof of Hoffman and Kruskal's theorem on Unimodularity and Integrality. (optimization, proof explanation, linear programming, integer programming, mixed integer, programming, math)?

  3. Math.SE (1 hour ago): basic linear algebra eigenvalue inequality
    Quora (1h ago): How do you approach basic linear algebra eigenvalue inequality skepticism (linear algebra, eigenvalues, eigenvectors, math)?

  4. Math.SE (2 hours ago): Reflecting over y=−x
    Quora (1h ago): How do you reflect over $y= x$ promptly (transformation, reflection, and math)?

  5. Math.SE (4 hours ago): diffeomorphism and integration by transformation rate
    Quora (2h ago): How do you establish the diffeomorphism and integration by transformation rate (analysis, math)?

  6. Math.SE (21 hours ago): How do I solve a quadratic where x is in the denominator, x2−4x−3=0? [closed]
    Quora (17h ago): How do you solve a quadratic where $x$ is in the denominator, $x^2 \frac {4} {x} 3=0$ (algebra precalculus, math)?
    Quora (again) (3h ago): How do you solve a quadratic where $x$ is in the denominator, $x^2 \frac {4} {x} 3=0$ (algebra, precalculus, math)?

  7. Math.SE (17 hours ago): Find the constant term in (x+1+1/x)7 [closed]
    Quora (3h ago): How do you find the constant term in (x+1+1/x) ^7 (binomial theorem, math)?

  8. Math.SE (17 hours ago): Hadamard's formula and the Fibonacci sequence?
    Quora (15h ago): How is Hadamard's formula applied to the Fibonacci sequence (sequences, series, convergence, divergence, math)?

  9. Math.SE (18 hours ago): Calculating end point coordinates
    Quora (17h ago): How do you calculate end point coordinates (geometry, trigonometry, quadratics, coordinate systems, math)?

  10. Math.SE (18 hours ago): Puzzle about a spinning table with a coin on each corner.
    Quora (18h ago): How do you handle a puzzle about a spinning table with a coin on each corner (combinatorics, combinations, puzzles binary, math)?

  11. Math.SE (19 hours ago): Computing the homotopy type of the total space of a fiber bundle
    Quora (18h ago): How do you compute the homotopy type of the total space of a fiber bundle (algebraic topology, homology, cohomology, fundamental groups, math)?

  12. Math.SE (yesterday): Solve the inequality |3x−5|−|2x+3|>0
    Quora (18h ago): How do you solve the inequality $|3x 5| |2x+3| >0$ (contextual inequality, absolute value, math)?

I just want to alert you to this.

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I actually got a reply from Quora (although I'm fairly sure it's just a template):

Jim (Quora)

Jul 8, 2020, 12:18 PM PDT

Dear Rebecca‍,

Thank you for your report. It appears from your claim that you do not own the copyright of the and/or are not authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

We ask that you provide more specific evidence that you own the copyright to the content in question, such as a copyright registration or other information supporting your claim.

Additionally, your complaint lacks certain information we need to understand and respond fully, in accordance with our policies and applicable laws, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Please note that a valid DMCA request must include the following information:

  • Identify the copyrighted work that you believe is being infringed

  • Identify the specific material that you believe is infringing

  • Identify specifically the location (e.g., the URL link) of each instance that the allegedly infringing work appears

Once we have received a proper request, we will review your complaint in accordance with our policies and applicable law.

We appreciate your understanding.

Regards,

Jim User Operations Quora

...

Jul 6, 2020, 9:25 PM PDT

Notice of alleged copyright infringement

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for sharing. If Stack Exchange has an interest in this issue, they could help list all the questions that Dex Jackson copied. Note that Dex is not the only problematic Quora user, e.g. quora.com/profile/Steve-Tang-6/activity is also copying a large amount of Stack Exchange questions without any attribution. $\endgroup$
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 22:45
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    $\begingroup$ Ah, I haven't looked closely at this account. But yeah, there are copy/pasted titles there too: Cooking.SE vs. Quora, and Buddhism.SE vs. Quora. $\endgroup$
    – Rebecca J. Stones
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 22:56
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    $\begingroup$ So those people are not at all interested in the ethical side of the matter - only the legal. Why am I not surprised. $\endgroup$
    – Jyrki Lahtonen
    Commented Jul 9, 2020 at 3:44
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    $\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen I think it's not possible to infer that from this reply alone. Just because one staff member at Quora wrote a reply which mentions only the legal side of things, does not mean that "these people" are not interested in the ethical side. $\endgroup$
    – user400188
    Commented Jul 10, 2020 at 4:13
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    $\begingroup$ @user400188 The staff member in question is representing his employer, not expressing a personal opinion. I do not understand your objection. $\endgroup$
    – Rodrigo de Azevedo
    Commented Jul 10, 2020 at 9:26
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    $\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen Yeah can't say I'm surprised either. Quora has always struck me as some "pretending to be intellectual" venture where the primary and perhaps only goal is to further their own brand rather than the pursuit of knowledge. $\endgroup$
    – Cameron Williams
    Commented Jul 10, 2020 at 15:02
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    $\begingroup$ @CameronWilliams: believe it or not but Quora has succeeded in furthering their brand to some extent. Most of the time Quora comes up in the first page (even first link) when you type questions on Google. But people who look for real information would prefer stack exchange anytime over Quora. $\endgroup$
    – Paramanand Singh Mod
    Commented Jul 11, 2020 at 3:58
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    $\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen: It's quora, not ethica. $\endgroup$
    – user21820
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 4:53

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