The appeals committee has received an appeal from NJBadapple asking for his punishment to be reduced. While the committee understands his point of view, we ultimately did not find anything in his argument to be persuasive, and as such his appeal has been denied. Thank you and reach out to an appeals committee member with questions.
Alex Winters (retired)
Matej Winters (retired)
Dominik Winters S45 Jesster Trophy Winner Challenge Cup Winning Goal Club: S52
As someone who partly got back into the league to keep working on my creative writing skills, it's reassuring to know that the standards and practices to protect the originality of users' content output is taken seriously.
I doubt this will go over well but I want to post what my actual appeal was. This is just to show that I wasn't asking for anything crazy in return or somehow trying to deny my actions:
"I fully admit to the allegations made regarding the plagiarizing of multiple PT's over the course of the last six seasons. With respect to the punishment handed down, I'd like to make three requests along with a statement through my appeal.
- Request the TPE removed to be reduced from 428 (2.5x the amount obtained) to 342 (2x the amount obtained). I understand HO reserves the right to impose harsher penalties than required but the additional .5 seems out of touch with the "crime to punishment" ratio. I'm requesting to forfeit an equal amount in addition to what was illegally obtained.
- Request the fine total be reduced from a total of $30M ($5M per season) to $24M ($4M per season). As cited in the punishment thread, rulebook clearly states that any attempt to cheat will be punished with a $5M fine in addition to any TPE/money that was stolen. However, it does not state the fine will occur for each occasion - or in this case, each season. Given the longevity and severity of the cheating, I'm requesting a leniency fine of $4M fine per season for each of the six seasons I breached the rules.
- I'd like HO to place a probationary period upon me, which would impose additional fines if found guilty of breaching any TPE/money related rules. I leave the length of this up to HO / appeals board.
All other punishments I accept. To summarize, the requested changes consist of:
NJBadapple’s player, Mads McBride, will have TPE removed in the amount of 2 times the TPE illegally obtained, for a total of 342 TPE.
$4,000,000 fine for each full season in which the cheating took place, for a total of $24,000,000.
A probationary period of _ will be imposed on NJBadApple, where any breach of rules will result in a fine of $__.
As a final statement I'd like to apologize to the PT Team, who put in a tremendous effort weekly to keep users engaged despite taking a lot of heat. I'd also like to apologize to HO for undermining the rules of a community that has been a large part of my life for nearly 10 real-life years. I ask the appeals board to keep in mind my longevity and dedication to the site, having held (and currently hold) several positions of responsibility. This occurrence is not a statement of my character, but a serious misstep in an otherwise healthy standing with fellow members and forum leadership. Thank you for your time and consideration."
While I disagree with the appeals verdict of my appeal I still respect it. Again, thanks everyone!
06-14-2024, 07:16 PMeddiesnothere Wrote: As someone who partly got back into the league to keep working on my creative writing skills, it's reassuring to know that the standards and practices to protect the originality of users' content output is taken seriously.
I feel the same way. I would have been incredibly upset if I knew that any of my content had been stolen.