One Warminster, Pa., science teacher discovered students using their parents' fax machines to copy each other's homework faster. Internet plagiarism has escalated so quickly that two Harrisburg, Pa., entrepreneurs recently started selling anti-plagiarism software called Integriguard. Frustrated by the trend, educators have fought back in the courts. The most closely watched case involved Boston University, which filed a lawsuit to shut down several cheating web sites. Much to the university's dismay, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in December.
Teachers say digital cheaters used to be easier to catch because they made more careless mistakes.
Marcia Hilsabeck, an English teacher at Round Rock High School in Texas, chuckles when recalling how one of her students printed a research paper off the Internet, created a title page, and turned in the assignment. Hilsabeck nabbed him. She has nabbed other students, too. To strike fear into students, first-time cheaters are shown a sample letter saying the school will rescind college application references it has agreed to send, or has already sent, if the student is caught again. The main thing that makes kids leery is they know I know where to go.