Cheating at uni just got harder.
I wish I had a dollar for every email I received in the last 12 years asking if I can ‘help’ them write their essay.
I tell them I was senior lecturer in professional writing at RMIT and also an associate director in the Australian Pubic Service, and if would provide me with their contact details, I’ll gladly dob them in.
The nation’s university regulator now requires Telstra, Optus and 49 other telcos to block access to AssignmentHelp4You.com and it’s URL.
Its website states it provides online tutoring, exam preparation and assignment writing, “for students who are unfamiliar with writing at university and academic assignments.”
WTF?
A spokesperson for TEQSA said the successful injunction to block the website was because the it believes it was in contravention of s114B of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act, which prohibits the advertisement of academic cheating services.
In May, TEQSA released data showing 2,628 instances where substantially similar assignments had been submitted to 78 Australian education institutions between 2015 and 2019, including 34 universities, covering a broad range of disciplines.
TEQSA can now not only block academic cheating websites using court orders, but site operators face up to two years in jail, or fines of up to $110,000 for providing or advertising their services.
Similar site-blocking laws are in place for copyright-infringing websites such as torrent sites that allow the sharing of films, TV shows and music.