The Plague of Cheating and Internet Plagiarism :: Journalistic Essays

Internet Es formulates - The Plague of Internet Plagiarism   Not wholly thieves lurk in dark alleys and parks. Some depend upon with their faces lit by the glow of their computer monitors, copying, pasting, and printing.   It may seem akin just another helpful source of information, but the Internet has taken the stealth of intellectual property to a new level. Part of the problem is that most students dont really know the exact definition of plagiarism or its consequences. Some say that using someone elses ideas without attributing them is a form of theft, but most people dont think of it as a serious crime.   For teachers, Internet plagiarism has been especially sturdy compared to theft from other sources. This is because it is so difficult to locate the origin of Internet material. To counter student plagiarism, Internet services designed to detect copied material impart emerged to aid teachers. One Internet company, TurnItIn.com, has developed a system for det ecting material plagiarized from the Internet. Teachers can upload student works onto the site, which searches for similarities to material from all over the Web. The teachers receive an originality report within a few days. To utilize this new technology, a few teachers at this high school are having students convey their papers on disk as well as on paper.   The threat of using these programs will stop a lot of students. They will be afraid theyll be caught. Unfortunately, fear is what works, English teacher Judy Grear said.   English teacher Barbara Swovelin said, With all the info thats on the Internet, its understandable that we go to it to get information. Its understandable that people would use it as a resource. The legal and moral issues come in when students use it improperly. A main concern is not only the use of a few plagiarized sentences, but of entire papers. Paper mills like SchoolSucks.com and Evil House of Cheat are some of the most popular sources for pir ated papers. Sites like these, which have achieved fame and notoriety among slackers everywhere, were the motivation for TurnItIn.com and similar sites.   In addition to such blatant cut and paste plagiarism, most teachers agree that students must be suspect of the theft of ideas. One plagiarism-detection program, Word Check, asserts through their Web site, Whether you agree or disagree on how information should be used or reused in digital form, one thing is clear protecting intellectual property from theft and infringement is the number one security issue.