Teachers fight Internet note piracy
By Vanessa Renderman
Asst. Campus EditorWhen professors walk into a classroom to teach, they expect their students to pay attention and take notes, but teachers might not expect students to post those notes on the Internet.
One professor has started a campaign to put an end to what some people consider intellectual thievery.
"The basic problem with online lecture notes provided by private companies is that it intrudes in the relationships between students and their teachers," said Mathieu Deflem, an assistant professor of sociology.
Since September, a number of Web sites have started to post professors’ lectures without their permission and sometimes without their knowledge.
These Internet companies pay students to take notes in university classrooms around the country and post what the student submits on their Web site.
Deflem has fallen victim to this business. Notes for one of his courses were posted on a Web site and he requested that they remove them. The company refused to remove them and Deflem said the site has been so reconfigured since then that he cannot fully access it.
Deflem said one of his biggest problems with posting lecture notes online is that there is no guarantee of quality. Any student can submit notes, and there is no way of checking the accuracy.
"Most importantly, I feel students are negatively affected by this phenomenon because online lecture notes companies lack any kind of accountability in providing educational materials with any guarantees of quality," he said.
Deflem said the sites have disclaimers, but students wouldn’t expect their professors to give them a disclaimer before their lectures in class, so the need for a disclaimer should raise concern.
Deflem’s attempt to thwart the efforts of these online companies has just started, but he said that University of California, Los Angeles has already begun legal proceedings.
Other professors at Purdue should pay attention to the Web sites to see if their notes are being posted. Deflem said there are several classes at Purdue already posted.
The legal aspect of the issue is difficult to get a handle on because of the lack of Internet laws. Some professors feel that the Web sites that post their lectures are infringing on their rights by stealing their ideas and words. The owners and directors of the sites argue that the information that is posted does not post the professors’ exact lectures word for word so it is not a copyright infringement.
A disclaimer at one of the sites, StudentU.com, read, "StudentU.com officially warns and advises all users not to become dependent on the lecture notes as a substitute for attending classes.
"The lecture notes contained within StudentU.com are a notetaker’s interpretation of what was presented in the lecture. They are not a professor’s lecture notes," it stated.
Another Web site, Versity.com, included in its user agreement a similar statement warning users that the notes do not come directly from a professor.
But Deflem feels the legality of the matter is not as damaging as the effect the notes have on the instructors and students.
"The most serious problem with online notes companies is, first, the loss of autonomy and dignity that it involves in student-teacher relationships," he said.
• Deflem’s Web site that addresses and goes into more detail is http://www.sla.purdue.edu/people/soc/mdeflem/education/htm. Web sites that have subject notes include Student24-7.com, Jenzabar.com, CourseNotes.com, AllStudents.com, EzCampus.com Notesplus.com and StudyAid.com.