I downvoted the post not for the pure act of paraphrasing/plagiarism but because I didn't agree with the rewards and I stand by that. Even if he had added the source it would still be a post worth downvoting in my opinion because he is still profiting from something someone else wrote. If he had added in his own thoughts and experiences it would have been another case but his post gave off the same information in different words.

When you're changing the words around and re-writing them you're still taking the original authors idea. When you present it as your own because it's in "your own words" that's still plagiarism. Plagiarism is so much more than copying something word from word. 

The reason why I spend time and energy on this is because I don't want Hive to be known as a place where people can profit from that. That is also part of the reason why I saw it as important to take away the rewards. If people from the outside see even a 1$ reward on a plagiarised post people will think Hive is that place. 

It's an interesting discussion this and I think it's a good thing you brought it up. I just hope this doesn't bring some bad repercussions upon @xplosive. He's a good guy who owned up to his mistake and I look forward to seeing his future posts and contributions.