p2pnet.net news:- The Turnitin anti-plagiarism service violates copyright laws, say two McLean High School students who are suing the company for almost $1 million in damages.

McLean High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, says its mission is to, “graduate educated and responsible citizens” and in a post on its web site, last year, declared:

The McLean High School community values honesty, fairness, and respect for others. We expect our students to adhere to the McLean Honor Code. Beginning this school year, McLean High School will be employing Turnitin.com as a teaching tool and as a plagiarism deterrent. Turnitin.com is used by 18 other FCPS high schools, as well as in many colleges and universities throughout the nation. Please click here to read a school-wide letter with more information. Parents and students are also invited to learn more about this teaching tool at www.turnitin.com. If you have questions or concerns, please email Kimberly Carney, Assistant Principal. (August 31, Leadership Team.

McLean’s then new Committee for Students’ Rights said cheating was a No-No, “But they object to Turnitin’s automatically adding their essays to the massive database, calling it an infringement of intellectual property rights,” said The Washington Post at the time. “And they contend that the school’s action will tar students at one of Fairfax County’s academic powerhouses.”

Now, “One of the McLean High plaintiffs wrote a paper titled ‘What Lies Beyond the Horizon,” says a new Post story. “It was submitted to Turnitin with instructions that it not be archived, but it was, the lawsuit says.”

Says the story, “Turnitin officials did not return calls for comment yesterday. A Fairfax County schools spokesman said the system would not comment on pending litigation.”

It adds:

“According to the lawsuit, each of the students obtained a copyright registration for papers they submitted to Turnitin. The lawsuit filed against Turnitin’s parent company, iParadigms LLC, seeks $150,000 for each of six papers written by the students.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:
educated and responsible citizens – Turn it in, Turnitin: McLean students, September 28, 2006
The Washington Post – Students Rebel Against Database Designed to Thwart Plagiarists, September 22, 2006
Post – McLean Students Sue Anti-Cheating Service, March 29, 2007

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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 30th, 2007 at 11:31 am and is filed under Freedom, Off Topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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