Warning! Warning! WARNING!!! Accusing someone of plagiarism is a VERY big deal. It is potentially a career ruiner. Consequently, before you accuse someone

Warning! Warning! WARNING!!! Accusing someone of plagiarism is a VERY big deal. It is potentially a career ruiner. Consequently, before you accuse someone of plagiarism, you should be extremely certain that he has actually committed the offense. Here's what plagiarism is: Lifting, word for word (or very nearly word for word), passages from somebody else's work and passing it off as your own, without attributing the source. Here's what plagiarism isn't: Writing about the same topic. Making the same argument, using different language. Citing the same quotes from the same sources, but otherwise using different language. I don't see anything in Mike Elgan's piece that qualifies as plagiarism of your piece, as I've defined it above. What needs to be impressed upon you is that falsely accusing someone of plagiarism is a legally actionable offense. It's called libel, and you can find yourself with a lawsuit on your hands. I'm not a lawyer, but I would strongly urge you to retract this post. Disclaimer: I'm a former Forbes.com employee but no longer have any ties to the company.