IP: Internet Term-Paper Mills

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg@epic.org>=20


Funny how a real world episode can drive a point
home in a way that speculative arguments never can.
Here is a post from David Post today off of the
Cyberprof list. David is disseminating his own
op-ed, which the Washington Post (too many
"Posts") claim a copyright in.


Guess who gets to go to jail under the No
Electronic Theft Act?


Marc.




>From: David Post <Postd@erols.com>
>To: "CyberProf" <CyberProf@mail.law.utexas.edu>
>Subject: Re: Internet Term-Paper Mills
>Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 12:07:16 -0500


>
>[This appeared in today's Washington Post, Op-ed page, under the title
>(*not* chosen by me) 'When Cheating is Cause for Celebration.'  In their
>online edition,
>URL is
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-11/24/032l-112497-idx.html
>
>NB: Though the bottom of the article, as it appears on line, reads
>=A9 Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company, I believe that is what we=
 law
>profs call 'bullshit.' Since I'm the author, and did not assign my
>copyright to the Post, and this is not a work for hire, I cannot imagine
>how they believe they have copyright to this.  In fact, given the Post's
>position as plaintiff in the TotalNews lawsuit, I'm thinking of suing them
>for copyright infringement -- anyone want to estimate my chances of
>success?  As the owner of copyright, I hereby authorize redistribution to
>your heart's content.
>DP]
>Cross-posted to Cyberia-L
>********************
>                         When Cheating Is Cause for Celebration
>                         By David G. Post
>
>                Monday, November 24, 1997
>		  Op-Ed Page (A25)
>		  The Washington Post
>
>	Although Boston University appears to be fighting the good fight and
>upholding important standards of educational integrity in its lawsuit
>against several alleged "term paper mills" operating on the Internet
>["University Tries to Pull Plug on Internet Term-Paper Mills," front page,
>Nov. 5], we would be better off if -- and when -- the university loses its
>lawsuit.
>
>	I'm not suggesting that students should be encouraged to purchase
>rather
>than write term papers. Such a practice undermines important educational
>values. But whether Boston University's lawsuit succeeds is going to have
>little bearing on whether term papers are widely available on the Net
>within the next few years. Does Massachusetts really think that its law can
>reach around the globe to anywhere Internet information suppliers might be
>located? I'd wager that in five years, regardless of the outcome in the
>Massachusetts case, you'll be able to give me any topic at 9 in the morning
>and by afternoon, I'll have whatever length paper you demand all ready to=
 go.
>
>	We should all -- but educators especially -- welcome this
>development. A
>world in which you can type "Jane Eyre and the theme of marriage in
>19th-century English fiction, 25 pages maximum," into your computer and
>have a stack of documents -- some written, perhaps, by reowned literature
>professors halfway around the globe, some by college students from across
>town -- delivered to your desktop fulfills a dream humankind has had since


>the library of Alexandria. Quite apart from whether we can stop this world
>>from coming into being, why should we want to?
>
>	The Internet is turning into a global "term-paper mill" for all of
>us to
>use. Some, of course, will abuse this power. But the suppliers of
>information, and those who make it easy to find and easy to tailor to
>individual needs, should be encouraged in their efforts to bring this new
>world into being.
>
>	As a lawyer and law professor I acknowledge that this lawsuit
>represents
>another disturbing example of how institutions that have flourished under a
>particular set of rules and constraints often see the law as little more
>than a means to freeze the status quo in place. Those nostalgic for the
>good old days when they were young and had to turn in real term papers will
>support these efforts. But Boston University and its students would be
>better served by seeking ways to adapt to the new information environment,
>rather than futilely attempting to preserve the old regime and its methods.
>
>	The problem is serious: How do you design a productive educational
>experience in a world in which end-of-semester term papers no longer serve
>as a viable means of measuring students' abilities or imparting useful
>knowledge? We can hope the problem goes away, we can try to fight it with
>lawyers, or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work. Perhaps if Boston
>University would divert some of its money and brainpower away from this
>lawsuit and toward trying to come up with creative solutions to this
>problem, we might all be further along in finding ways for our students to
>take advantage of this extraordinary library being built under our noses.
>
>The writer is an associate professor of law at Temple University and
>co-director of the Cyberspace Law Institute.
>








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