^Paraphrased/summarized/nearly plagiarized from
Reappraising the "Crown Jewel" on the True.Origin Archive
It's considered good manners to at least reference something you copy in whole or in part. On this board, I believe there are additional rules about cutnpasting big chunks of text (bandwidth and copyright paranoia, I believe). Ask the admins if you are not sure what's kosher.
Be sure to write again when you have something unique or original to contribute.