Friday, March 20, 2009

Refrigerator Magnetic Essays [Outsourcing]

In a globalized, frictionless, or flat economy has led to outsourcing on anything and everything. Tim Ferriss claims that you can "escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich," in his 4-Hour Workweek book.

So I'm not surprised to see that outsourcing essay writing has become a global affair. I recall a friend of mine who had one of her essays "contributed" to an essay bank. She didn't know how it got there, but evidently, somebody had made got compensated for her essay.

The Chronicle of Higher Education peels away at these Essay Mills to reveal something that is both sophisticated, global, and very profitable.

In a previous era, you might have found an essay mill near a college bookstore, staffed by former students. Now you'll find them online, and the actual writing is likely to be done by someone in Manila or Mumbai. Just as many American companies are outsourcing their administrative tasks, many American students are perfectly willing to outsource their academic work.

What's going on behind the scenes, however, is another story.

The address listed on the site is in Reston, Va. But it turns out that's the address of a company that allows clients to rent "virtual office space" — in other words, to claim they're somewhere they're not.
Check out the rest of the article here.

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