Many users of technology question whether the concept of intellectual property is still valid in the electronic age. The student who purchased his papers for the course surely knew that his action was dishonest. However, terms such as publishing and copyright do not even enter the thinking of many users of electronic media, especially novices. For one thing, with electronic media the distinction between personal intellectual property and public domain may not be clear. Students frequently assume that anything on the Internet is public domain, theirs for the taking, and thus need not be cited.
Public domain is no longer easy to define.
Electronic media likewise blur the distinction between public and private writing. Without a physical object, individuals may sense no need to attribute to a source.