Posted by Orin Kerr:
More on Professays.com:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_05_22-2005_05_28.shtml#1117122993
I was intrigued by [1]Eugene's post yesterday about Professays, an
online service that will custom-write essays for students for a steep
fee, so I went to their [2]customer service page and submitted the
following question using my university e-mail address:
I need to write a paper for school. But is it cheating if I submit
a paper you guys wrote but put my name on it? Or is that okay?
Thanks!
Orin
(My factual claim was true, I should point out; I do need to write a
paper for school this summer.) A few minutes later, I received the
following response:
Dear Orin,
Thank you for your question. We'll be happy to work on your paper.
No, it's not cheating because it's our job to help you in your
studies.
Best regards,
The Professays Team
Phew, that's a relief. Not only is there no plagiarism when you use
Professays, as Eugene noted, but there's no cheating when you submit
their paper with your name. After all, it's their job. (Why it being
their job keeps you from cheating when you submit a paper you didn't
write is left as an exercise for the reader.)
Incidentally, I followed up that exchange by asking the people at
Professays if I had permission to post their response on my blog. They
responded:
hi,
Yes, you can post our response. Please, also, add that every
student is free to choose whether he/she wants to use this service
or not. There is no force or manipulation.
Best regards,
The Professays Team
Duly noted. Not only is there no plagiarism and no cheating, there
is also freedom to choose. And how can anyone possibly object to that?
References
1. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_05_22-2005_05_28.shtml#1117055150
2. http://professays.com/customer-service.html
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