What are the forum rules regarding the use of quotations from other sources in messages on the forum? When I became a member a few weeks ago I vaguely recall seeing guidance to the effect of not making lengthy quotations when a link to the original material could be inserted. I have reviewed the FAQs and User Agreement but have been unable to find the rule.
Recently a one-message thread of mine on the end of the procurement of the Humvee was deleted. It consisted of a six or seven-paragraph portion of a story clearly identifed as being by the Associated Press. I didn't see any need to link to the online story when a brief quote was sufficient. Last month the same thing happened to a thread of mine on Army slang. The three quotations used were not especially lengthy, and all were attributed to the authors and titles of the original works. Two of the three passages quoted are not available on the internet but were reproduced by me from old original copies; therefore there were no links.
So again, what are the rules for using properly attributed quotations? Is the rule in place to conserve bandwidth or is it to ensure the veracity and proper attribution of the source?
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